Gayndah Shire Hall is a heritage-listed town hall at 32-34 Capper Street, Gayndah, North Burnett Region, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Hall & Phillips and built from 1934 to 1935. It is also known as Gayndah Soldiers' Memorial Hall, Gayndah Town Hall, and Gayndah and District Soldiers Memorial Hall and Council Chambers. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 28 September 2001.
History
The Gayndah Soldier's Memorial Hall and Council Chambers was constructed in 1935 on the corner of Capper and Pineapple Streets by the Gayndah Town Council. The building was designed by prominent Brisbane architects, Hall and Phillips, and is one of a number of buildings designed by the partnership that demonstrates an Art Deco influence.
Gazetted in 1849, the town of Gayndah initially developed as the centre for a number of large sheep stations taken up in the Burnett region during the 1840s. Gayndah's early growth as a pastoral "capital" is largely attributed to the determination of the squatters, and for a short time, the town reputedly rivalled Brisbane as the capital for Queensland. Gayndah also developed as the administrative centre for the area - a school (Gayndah State School) was established in 1861, and post office and court house were erected. A branch of the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney was opened in 1864, and a local government authority was established in 1867. By the late nineteenth century, cattle had replaced sheep as the dominant pastoral activity. Citrus orchards also flourished, and together with cattle and dairy farming, provided the basis for the development of Gayndah from the turn of the century.
The first local authority was convened in 1867 and a Town Council, consisting of a mayor and three aldermen was elected by poll. In 1882 the Rawbelle Divisional Board was established and attended to all business outside the jurisdiction of the Town Council until 1922 when a new board known as the Rawbelle-Gayndah Joint Board was formed and comprised a delegation from Gayndah. 1925 saw the merging of the Town Council with the Joint Board to form the Gayndah Shire Council, which consisted of a Chairman and six councillors.
The site for the proposed Town Hall had been acquired in 1924 possibly through arrears in rates payments. The block () was subdivided in October 1929 and the southern section () was transferred to the Queensland Country Women's Association.
At a meeting of the local progress association on 29 September 1933 it was resolved to proceed with the Town Hall project which was supported by the Gayndah branch of the RSSILA and the Gayndah Chamber of Commerce.
To design the council chambers the Town Council engaged the Brisbane architectural firm of Hall and Phillips. Hall and Phillips had formed a partnership in 1929, when Lionel Blythewood Phillips was admitted into partnership with Thomas Ramsay Hall formerly of Hall and Prentice, who designed the Brisbane City Hall and Ascot Chambers. Hall and Phillips continued in practice until 1948 and their projects included the Shell Building in Ann Street, The Empire Theatre, Toowoomba, the Nambour Town Hall and shire offices at Gatton, Murweh, Boonah, Dalby and Monto.
The Council Offices were designed to include the Council Chambers, a general office, a spare office and offices for the Town Clerk, the Health Officer and the Engineer. The Hall included ladies and gentlemen's cloak rooms a ticket office, the hall and stage, dressing rooms and a supper verandah with kitchen. Separate public toilets with a septic system were constructed at the rear of the hall.
The estimate for the cost of the building was . Application was made to the Queensland Treasury for a subsidy of and a loan of . Tenders were called in March 1934 for a new concrete Town Hall at Gayndah. H E McDonnell was the engineer for the project and Tom Cullen, was the foreman.
The Council Offices were complete by May 1935 with the Hall completed a short time after. The building which was named the Gayndah and District Soldiers Memorial Hall and Council Chambers was officially opened on 19 July 1935 by the Hon Ned Hanlon in commemoration of the employment relief loan the Gayndah Town Council had received from the Queensland Government in order to construct the building. Problems associated with the availability of materials and the quality of the day labour sent to work on the project are recorded in the Council minutes and may explain the moderation of the detailing in the building as constructed as compared with the published drawings.