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Soldiers Memorial Hall is a heritage-listed memorial at 149 Herries Street, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Hodgen & Hodgen (Toowoomba) and built from 1923 to 1959 by Smith Bros (Toowoomba). It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 17 December 1999. == History == The Soldiers' Memorial Hall, Toowoomba was erected in three stages: 1923-24, 1930–31, and 1957–59, as a tribute to all those from Toowoomba and district who had served in the First World War, many of whom did not return, and for the use of returned servicemen and the citizens of Toowoomba. Local architect and Alderman William Hodgen junior and his firm designed all three stages of the hall.〔 The First World War (1914-1918), although fought in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, had a profound impact on Australia. At the outbreak of war Australia, as a former (and recent) British colony with strong ties still to the "motherland", immediately entered the war in support of Britain and her allies. Over 300,000 Australians out of a population of 4 million volunteered for service overseas, with approximately 60,000 of these making the supreme sacrifice. Virtually every community in every Australian state lost young men in this war.〔 The idea of erecting a memorial hall in Toowoomba was first mooted at a meeting of citizens and returned soldiers held at the Toowoomba Town Hall in 1918. A committee to coordinate fund raising and the construction of the hall was appointed in 1919. The Citizens' Memorial Hall Committee purchased land for the hall in 1919 in Ruthven Street for ₤500, on the understanding that the Town Council acquired adjoining land at the corner of Herries Street. It was anticipated that the committee would facilitate construction and furnishing of the hall, which would then be handed to the Town Council, for lease to the Toowoomba Branch of the Returned Sailors and Soldiers Imperial League of Australia (R.S.S.I.L.A.) - more commonly known as the RSL.〔 By November 1921 the Citizen's Committee was planning to invite competitive designs for club rooms and assembly hall, the price not to exceed £5000. Highly respected Sydney architect John Sulman was appointed as sole adjudicator of the competition in February 1922, but it is unclear whether the competition eventuated. By mid-1922, plans for a two-storeyed brick clubrooms with large assembly hall at the rear had been prepared by Toowoomba architect and Alderman William Hodgen junior. Tenders were called and in January 1923 a contract was let to Smith Brothers of Toowoomba for the front section only, the clubrooms fronting Ruthven Street. The Citizen's Committee planned to erect the second section of Hodgen's design, the assembly hall at the rear, as soon as sufficient funds had been raised. The assembly hall was to be used for large social functions, lectures, and public meetings, and was intended as much for the citizens of Toowoomba and district as for returned servicemen.〔 The foundation stone was laid on Anzac Day, 25 April 1923, by Major-General Sir Thomas William Glasgow, who reflected the patriotic fervour that still gripped Australia when he said of the intended memorial hall: "''May it forever remind us of the duty we all owe to our country and to the Empire to which we are all proud to belong''". By this date the Citizens' Committee had raised in cash and promises, between ₤5000 and ₤6000, and another ₤1500 was required to finish and furnish the first section of the building.〔 The Soldiers' Memorial Hall was officially opened by the Queensland Governor, Sir Matthew Nathan, on 5 September 1924 in the presence of a large gathering. Earlier on the same day, the Citizen's Committee had vested the property in the Town Council, and the RSL was granted a 99-year lease at a "peppercorn" rent of a shilling a year, if demanded. A provision in the lease allowed that should the hall not be required by the soldiers in the future, the use and control of the hall was to revert to the Council for the general use of all the citizens.〔 At the time of the opening, the building comprised two storeys, with a single gable to each side of the roof and an open, gabled colonnade across the Ruthven Street elevation. A narrow, single-storeyed brick section at the rear appears to have been erected at this time also, (possibly containing additional storerooms and public lavatories); as was a pair of brick pillars, wrought-iron gate and small brick fence along Ruthven Street, between the club building and the adjacent Commonwealth Research Laboratory, also erected in 1923.〔 The top floor of the Soldiers' Memorial Hall, used exclusively by returned soldiers as a club, contained a club room, billiards room, card room and lavatories. The ground floor comprised an entrance vestibule, office, restaurant, kitchen and cloakrooms. The RSL utilised the downstairs office, but also let parts of the ground floor to the Country Women's Association and the Theosophical Society for their meetings. The hall was fitted with all modern conveniences, including a septic tank system, electric light, and telephone. Furniture was of maple, and situated in a prominent position in the club room was a writing desk presented to the club by the Mothers' Memorial Committee.〔 Use of the club rooms was open to all returned soldiers, with membership fees set at 5/- for League members and 7/6 for non-members. Visiting ex-soldiers were admitted as honorary members.〔 The Soldiers' Memorial Hall was built to serve a number of purposes: as a war memorial; to provide administrative facilities to assist returned soldiers with employment and welfare services; to provide an institute with library, reading room and recreation facilities for returned servicemen; and as a locale where the comradeship of the returned servicemen could find expression, and where all who were suffering from the war could find relief. The building was considered a handsome attraction to the Toowoomba townscape, and the planned hall was seen as being of benefit to the whole of the community.〔 In 1927-28 the Toowoomba Town Council acquired a fourth parcel of land at the rear of the site, with a 54 ft frontage to Herries Street, which was leased to the RSL for memorial hall purposes, enabling them to proceed with construction of the assembly hall. Hodgen's initial design, which was for an enormous hall of two storeys in height with a verandah on the north side and a gallery at the eastern end, proved too expensive an undertaking. Plans were prepared (apparently by Hodgen) for a smaller, single-storeyed, pavilion-style hall, which was erected in 1930-31. It was built to the same width as the front section of the building, and internally contained a dais along the western end and another along the northern side of the dance floor. On the northern side of the dance hall was an external entrance, accessed from Ruthven Street via the side gate erected in 1923. A brick portico was added above this entrance gate, and the single-storeyed section of the building was remodelled to provide internal access from the front section of the building through to the dance floor behind. At this period also the single-storeyed rear section was raised to two storeys, with a separate gabled roof. The new upper storey of this section contained a lounge, bar and card room.〔 In the early 1950s, renewed interest in the RSL as an institution - following Australian involvement in the Second World War (1939–45), Korean War (1950-53) and Malayan communist insurgency of 1954 - encouraged the idea of extending Toowoomba's Soldiers' Memorial Hall to provide improved club facilities for members, and a larger dance hall for the citizens of Toowoomba and district. The firm of Hodgen & Hodgen was once again asked to prepare plans, . The proposed scheme was for the 1930-31 hall to be replaced with a larger, two-storeyed building with partial basement and roof garden - the basement to contain kitchen and supper room; the ground floor to contain the dance floor; and the upper floor to contain a cafeteria and bar. Tender prices proved prohibitive, so the extensions were modified to contain only a single-storeyed dance hall with basement kitchen and supper room, omitting any new facilities for RSL members. In negotiations with the Toowoomba City Council on this matter in March 1956, Dr Furness, President of the Toowoomba Sub-branch of the RSL, explained that the modified plan was intended for the citizens of Toowoomba, to provide a centrally located dance floor which could be used for a variety of public functions. The RSL believed that they should build for the whole community, not just for returned servicemen.〔 After some difficulties experienced in the raising of a loan and the letting of the contract, Toowoomba architect Malcolm Just was appointed supervising architect of the revised extension, based on the Hodgen and Hodgen scheme, in April 1957. The new dance hall and basement supper room was opened in the second half of 1959. At the time it was the largest dance hall in Toowoomba, with an excellent suspended timber floor, attracting most of the principal dance events in Toowoomba, including the annual Piggots, Toowoomba Foundry, Defiance Flour Mill, Masonic, Post Office and RSL balls.〔 Unfortunately for the aspirations of the RSL, the advent of television in the late 1950s changed social habits significantly, and from the early 1960s public dances and balls declined. In 1964, the RSL applied to the Toowoomba City Council to convert the dance hall into club rooms, and to raise revenue by sub-leasing the existing clubrooms in the 1923-24 building to other community groups. Despite community disappointment, conversion was proceeded with in the mid-1960s. The dance floor was converted into three principal areas: a bar and dining room along the northern wall, a games room at the western end, and a billiards room and library at the eastern end. An additional office appears also to have been created at this time, and it is understood that the false ceilings were installed at this time.〔 At present the dance hall remains partitioned, but the billiard room and library are now one large space, still utilised for dances, dancing classes, and weekly Bingo, and the small dining area on the north side of the building now houses gaming machines. In 1993 the band shell at the western end of the dance floor was converted into a kitchen, and the games room into a dining room.〔 The building is still utilised by a large number of community organisations: besides several branches of the RSL, the local Veteran's Advisory Service, the Light Horse Association, the British Commonwealth Occupation Forces, and the War Widows utilising the main sections of the building, five Rotary clubs and Toowoomba Lions Club occupy the basement.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Soldiers Memorial Hall, Toowoomba」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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