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Toowoomba Police Station Complex is a heritage-listed police station at 50-52 Neil Street, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Raymond Clare Nowland and built in 1935. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 5 October 1998. == History == The Toowoomba Police Station Complex is located on a large site with frontages to both Neil and Hume Streets. It addresses Neil Street and consists of four brick buildings constructed in 1935: the police station, garage, a watch house and watch house keeper's residence.〔 Toowoomba is the principal town on the Darling Downs which was first discovered by explorer Allan Cunningham in 1827. It was settled by New South Wales pastoralists in search of rich grazing land and by 1844 over twenty stations had been established. The site now known as Toowoomba was eventually considered to be the most suitable location for access down the range and in 1852, a town survey was secured. The establishment of the new town was strongly supported by the squatters and Toowoomba challenged Brisbane as the new capital of Queensland. Although this status was not achieved, the town rapidly developed and by the 1860s had become the centre of pastoral development on the Downs.〔 A police presence in the form of a lock up and barracks for constables and officers existed from the early formation of the town. The 1880s, a time of economic boom in Queensland, saw an increase in the number of grand public buildings constructed by the Department of Public Works. The construction of the Toowoomba Court House at the intersection of Margaret and Neil street in the 1876-78 and the Toowoomba Post Office facing Margaret Street in 1880, were followed by a substantial two-storeyed U shaped brick Police Station, incorporating barracks, lock up and lock up keeper's quarters. It was completed in 1881 on the Neil Street site. Later, two stable buildings, paddocks, a separate lock up keeper's quarters and inspector's residence were added to the site.〔 In 1915, a simple single-storeyed timber building with an iron roof was constructed at the rear of the main building as quarters for the Senior Sergeant. It originally had an open front verandah, a small front hall, three bedrooms, a sitting room, a dining room across the width of the house, and a kitchen and bathroom at the rear. This modest building is a typical Public Works Department design for a residence within a provincial location, and reflecting the hierarchal importance of the Senior Sergeant in relation to other police personnel. The building was removed during 1997.〔 In 1935, the buildings on the Police Station site were demolished with the exception of the 1915 Senior Sergeants quarters which was retained in situ, and was used as the police station during the construction of the new building. The project was part of a substantial program of public work being carried out in Toowoomba and district at that time. From January until August in 1935, £15,000 had been spent in public works wages in the area. Prominent work included the new Police Station, improvements at Willowburn Mental Hospital and construction of Toowoomba East State School. Building was not confined to Public sector construction activity. The private sector followed the government's lead, with new construction, extensive remodelling and modernisation of many of Toowoomba's commercial properties.〔 The new complex of Police buildings was designed by Raymond Clare Nowland, Senior Architect of the Department of Public Works. Nowland studied at Sydney Technical College and the Architectural Association in London after which he was employed by the Commonwealth Government, 1920-26. Nowland then moved to Queensland, practicing as an Architect and Town planner in Brisbane, before commencing work in the Queensland Department of Public Works in 1933 remaining there until 1938. He designed a number of buildings for the Queensland Police including Fortitude Valley Police Station and the Police Barracks in Upper Roma Street. The Toowoomba Police Station Complex was designed as an integrated range of buildings and Nowland incorporated advice from the local constabulary. Suggestions and input were considered from all levels of the service, from the night watch house constable to the Senior sergeant and District Police Inspector. A number of the original designs were amended to accommodate the very specific requirements of the local police including the garage, the watch house and the recreation area of the main Police Station.〔 The Police Station, a two storeyed brick building with a single storey rear section, incorporated offices for police duties on the ground floor and police barracks on the upper floor. The design allowed for the various police specialty divisions that had begun to evolve in larger urban centres. Offices were provided for the criminal investigation branch, the traffic branch, uniform inquiry men's room, constables' day room, as well as office space for senior staff. A public counter and room for police enquiries incorporated into the design, provided special space for the public to access the police and the many extraneous services located within police jurisdiction.〔 The single-storeyed watch house and watch house keeper's residence were constructed as separate buildings of coherent design to the main police station. The watch house consisted of cells, charge rooms, laundry, toilet and shower and had an internal exercise yard, creating a compact and spatially introspective building precluding the need for fencing. The watch house keeper's residence was a single-storeyed brick and tile building with a verandah. In 1988 the two buildings were joined and the watch house extended to accommodate more cell space. These alterations allowed the residence to be used as office space and the capacity of the watch house to be increased. A brick fence with barbed wire top was added for further security at this time.〔 A combination garage/stables with a tile roof was built on the northern boundary to replace the old stables. It contained a garage, stalls, fodder and harness rooms. Cecil Carroll became commissioner of the Queensland Police Force in 1934 and then embarked on the motorisation of the police force. A central motor garage, with trained motor mechanics was established in Brisbane in 1938, making the Toowoomba building an early example of the incorporation of the motor car into the operations of the police force. The original design for the stables incorporated 5 small stables. On the advice from Senior Sergeant J. A. D. Bookless, they were condensed to three 9 ft boxes with open fronts that could be used for motor cars and with the introduction of a rail, converted to stable. The placement of the roller doors in this elevation, created space for the secure housing of stolen vehicles after hours. The garage/stable, incorporating both old and new modes of transportation, provides evidence of this transitional period of transport for the police force and the pragmatism that forced the design to incorporate both forms of transport at this time.〔 Since the inception of the Police Force in the nineteenth century, the police lived and worked within the boundary of the Police reserve. The Toowoomba Police Station Complex reflected the arrangement of the living and working conditions that still prevailed in the 1930s. The location of barracks and other quarters on the same site as the police station provided an obvious law and order presence within the Toowoomba community at all times. This arrangement provided public access to the police force both day and night. The barracks and dormitories indicate the preference for single men in the position of constable〔 The close proximity of the Court House is indicative of the close relationship in the dual arms of law enforcement, and facilitating transportation of prisoners between the two arenas. The various buildings represent the complexity of services and facilities provided by this station since its establishment last century.〔 A building of the Justice department, the Toowoomba Court House, is located at the rear of the police reserve facing Hume Street.〔 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「Toowoomba Police Station Complex」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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