American Motorcycles

Statement of Significance

The place has historical and social value for its ongoing commercial presence and warehouse building form on Albany Highway.

Physical Description

211-213 Albany Highway, Victoria Park is a single storey painted brick and rendered brick commercial building. The building is on the corner of Cargill Street. The building has a shopfront to Albany Highway and a warehouse building form to Cargill Street. The sawtooth roof form is evident to the west elevation with roof glazing facing south. A corrugated steel roof sits behind the parapet. A steel cladding has been applied to the main elevation and a small section to the return to the west elevation. The cladding is to the parapet. The shopfront are large sections of fixed glazing within an aluminium frame. The building is currently (January 2021) a showroom and sales for AMC (American Motorcycles). The building is painted black with a yellow band above window height.

History

A building first appears in post office directories at the corner of Cargill Street and Albany Road in 1903. Harry Steedman is listed as the occupant, followed by 1905 by Mrs Sarah Newton and then T.P. Walsh. As no business functions are noted, it appears the building was probably originally a residence. However, from 1908 it was turned to commercial purposes. After a brief occupation by a pastrycook, the place was used by a bootmaker for about five years. During this time the first street numbers were assigned, and the place became 115 Albany Road. In 1920 the occupant was Mrs L.A. Metcalf, ‘refreshments’ but from the following year the more general ‘store’ was listed. H.L. Evatt ran the store until the latter 1920s, when Mrs M Goldstein took over and run a ‘mixed business’ until the mid-1930s. The occupant changed several times through the 1930s and 1940s, but ‘mixed business’ continued to be the listed use.1 A 1934 plan shows an L-shaped building at 211-213 Albany Highway. The whole place is recorded as 211, with no 213 on the plan. The two-storey buildings at 215-217 Albany Highway are already evident, but an alley separates them from 211-213 Albany Highway so that they do not abut. At the corner, 211 has zero setback from both street fronts, but the southern portion of the Albany Highway frontage is set back considerably, potentially sufficient to provide parking in front. A verandah along the set-back elevation suggests this was the entrance at the time. The rear half of the lot is mostly vacant, with some large corrugated iron sheds along the rear boundary with the laneway.2 Aerial photographs show an addition to the rear in place by 1953, bringing the building about halfway into its lot. It is possible that the front yard to Albany Highway was covered over or built in between 1961 and 1963, although images into the 1970s are not clear for this area. Between 1963 and 1965, the two saw-tooth portions were added to the rear, bringing the buildings to their extant (2021) footprint. An image from 1970 suggest the high boarding on the parapet may have been in place by that time. Viewed from the street, the front section of the building does not appear to retain its earlier form. However, aerial photographs show that the roofline for the front section continues to match the 1930s plan, with the front yard filled in under a separate roof.3 American Motorcycles was founded in 1984 by Stuart Verman. At that time it was called Road and Trail. From 1987, when Rob Gibbons joined the business, its emphasis shifted from generalist motorcycles and trail bikes to focus on Harley Davidsons. It was renamed American Motorcycles and US Parts in 1989. The shop’s website describes it as a widely recognised ‘Perth Institution’, partly due to its location (211 Albany Highway) in view of city-bound traffic accessing the Causeway. The business sells second-hand motorcycles, mostly Harley Davidsons, and also operates an extensive motorcycle parts and service workshop.4

Condition

Good

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

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Last Update