Construction of the Endeavour Hills Leisure Centre

The Endeavour Hills Leisure Centre was officially opened on November 11, 1990 by the Mayor of the City of Berwick, Cr John Pandazopoulos. The building was designed by the Architectural firm of Millar Sainsbery and Mulcair and built by the Norman Lothian Corporation at a cost of around $4 million. Here are a series of construction shots, which also give some great views of the developing suburb of Endeavour Hills.

This is the commemorative brochure produced for the Opening and, below, is a plan of the Complex, taken from the brochure.

This is a panorama of the Endeavour Hills Library, Community Centre and Leisure Centre, most likely taken around 1990 when the Leisure Centre opened.

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Cranbourne War Memorial

There had been discussions from at least 1920 onwards as to the most fitting memorial to honour the men from the Cranbourne area who served in the First World War. Early suggestions were for the construction of a Soldiers Memorial Hall. An article in the South Bourke and Mornington Journal on November 11, 1920 reported on a Cranbourne Shire meeting. The Mechanics' Hall committee suggested the erection of a building which would provide accomodation for Lodges and other community groups as well as having a Library and a Billiard room. This would provide a place for 'boys to go for recreation at night'. Some objection was made to having a Mechanics' Institute as a memorial to soldiers, though apparently that had been done in other places. Another sticking point seemed to be that a new hall would be in competition to the existing Shire Hall - so this issue was put aside for a few years - in fact it wasn't until 1929 that a meeting decided to erect a memorial in the form of an obelisk.

The Argus Saturday, May 25, 1929, page 28
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4008696

Perhaps due to the Depression, things moved slowly and in June 1938 I found another reference from The Argus regarding the war memorial, see below.

The Argus Wednesday, June 8, 1938, page 14
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article11154234

The Memorial was erected in June 1939, as another article in The Argus reported, see below.

The Argus Saturday, June 10, 1939, page 4
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12137410

The Memorial was officially unveiled on August 27, 1939, ironically only about a week before Australia was once more at War, as it was on September 3 that the Prime Minister, Robert Menzies, announced we were at war with Germany. The picture, above, is from the Cranbourne Shire Historical Society collection.

The Argus Tuesday August 29 1939, page 10
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article11234657

As you can see by the picture of the unveiling the the War Memorial, plus the one of the Shire Offices, above, the obelisk was originally located close to the corner of Sladen Street and the South Gippsland Highway. It was later hit by a car and moved at some time, possibly 1953, further west along Sladen Street, as seen in this 1988 picture, below. It was relocated again to its current location in Greg Clydesdale Square in 1991.

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Shire of Cranbourne Offices

In the last post we looked at the Shire of Cranbourne 1875 Municipal Offices. With a number of extensions these Offices served their purpose for nearly one hundred years, however an increasing population led to a demand for increased Council services which led to increased staff - so by the early1970s the original buildings were no longer adequate. In July 1974 it was decided to not only retain the 1875 building but to build new Council Offices, further along Sladen Street. Plans were drawn up by the Architectural firm of Leith Barrett & Partners and the tender of H.C.F Constructions was accepted at the July 9, 1976 Council Meeting to construct the 2874 square metre building at a cost of $1,377, 238.00. With landscaping, fit-out and furnishings the total cost was about $1.86 million.




The Foundation Stone was laid by the Shire President, Cr Ern Marriott on November 26, 1976. Cr Marriott is pictured above (left) with Mr H. Sleigh of H.C.F Constructions. Council staff began working at the new building on January 16, 1978 and the first Council meeting was held on February 24, 1978. It was officially opened by the Governor of Victoria, Sir Henry Winneke on April 22, 1978. The foundation stone picture comes from the commemorative booklet produced for the official opening.

Above and below - views of the building.

With Local Government Reforms in 1994, the Shire of Cranbourne and its successor, the short lived City of Cranbourne (which was proclaimed on April 22, 1994) was no more - part of it went to the new City of Casey and the other part to the new Cardinia Shire (both came into being on December 15, 1994). The building was no longer used for Council purposes and is now occupied by Cranbourne Community Health Services.

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Shire of Cranbourne Municipal Buildings

In the last post we looked at the opening of the City of Berwick Civic Centre at Narre Warren so continuing on with the Municipal buildings theme, today we will look at the Shire of Cranbourne Municipal Offices. William Lyall laid the foundation stone of the first Shire of Cranbourne Offices on March 6, 1875. The first Council meeting was held there on September 18, 1875. The suite of buildings consisted of the Shire Hall, Court House and Post Office.

This is the Post Office end of the building. The clock was installed in 1891.

An interior shot of the Shire Hall, maybe taken in the 1920s.

Another view of the buildings, it is actually one of my favourite photographs - hard to believe this is the intersection of Sladen Street and High Street/South Gippsland Highway. If you stood there now, you would probably get run over by a truck. The photograph was taken sometime after June 1939 which was when the War Memorial obelisk was erected. You can see the obelisk in front, right of the building.

The building was extended in 1961/1962 and again in 1970/1971, however this was a building constructed when the Shire of Cranbourne had a population of around 1,000 and by 1976 the Shire population was 25,830 so effectively the Shire was out growing the building. A new building was opened in 1978, which will be the subject of our next post. The 1875 buildings were saved after a spirited campaign by members of the Cranbourne Shire Historical Society, community members and Mr Herb Thomas, publisher of the Pakenham Gazette, and at the time President of the Berwick Pakenham Historical Society.

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Civic Centre at Narre Warren

In the last post we looked at the formation of the City of Berwick in 1973. In 1978 a new Municipal Office, the Civic Centre, was built on land donated by the Overland Corporation, the developer of the Fountain Gate Shopping Centre. The building was designed and constructed by Jennings Industries and the completed cost, including building, fit-out, furnishings and associated road and landscaping works, came to $2,978,000.

Above and below - early construction work.

The foundation stone was laid on February 17 1978. The Mayor at the time was Cr Hugh Hodson.

The City of Berwick brochure commemorating the laying of the Foundation Stone.

The Civic Centre was officially opened on Friday, December 8 1978 by the Governor of Victoria, Sir Henry Winneke. The Mayor was Cr Keith Wishart.

This is such a great photograph, above. An informal shot of the Governor and the Mayor on the occasion of the Civic Centre opening.

The official brochure produced for the opening. This is entrance taken from the east or the Narre Warren Library side.

This photograph is from the first floor of the Civic Centre, showing the crowd at the official opening. It's looking across to what is now the Max Pawsey Reserve.

View of the Civic Centre, from the Highway.

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