Police Garage part former Melbourne gaol hospital, 357-375 Russell Street, Melbourne
Butler, Graeme1985
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Total copies: 1
Title:
Police Garage part former Melbourne gaol hospital, 357-375 Russell Street, Melbourne
Creator:
Date of work:
1985
Reference number:
BIF-CITY 108558
Level of description:
Item from Collection: Heritage Collection (HC)
Type of materials:
Graphic materialsTextual material
Part of:
Series: Central City (BIF-CITY)
Access restrictions:
UnrestrictedOpen access.
Use restrictions:
UnrestrictedPlease contact City of Melbourne Libraries about obtaining permission to reproduce images.
General notes:
RESEARCH ADDED BY GRAEME BUTLER 2022:__________________________________________________DATE: 1925, 1937 also part 1857, 1908;ASSOCIATIONS: Victorian Government;DESIGNER: E Evan Smith and Percy Everett, Chief Architects, Public Works DepartmentPeriod: Inter-War.VICTORIA HERITAGE REGISTER H0912Statement of SignificanceLast updated on - August 17, 1999What is significant?The former Police Garage in Russell Street was developed on the site of the Old Melbourne Gaol hospital from 1925. Temporary structures were erected on the area to the south of the surviving cell block and to the north of City Watch House. In 1937 all structures, excluding the existing bluestone gaol walls but including the surviving hospital, were demolished and a new structure was erected to designs signed off by Public Works Department chief architect Percy Everett. The garage was formed by the south wall of the surviving 1857 gaol block, the north wall of the 1908 City Watch House and by the bluestone walls, circa 1864, formerly surrounding the hospital to the east and west. A concrete slab floor carries steel columns supporting a sawtooth roof of corrugated cement sheets and tiles. Parapets added in 1937 hide the roof from street level. The area of the old gaol hospital was the one of the sites for the burial of executed prisoners. Several bodies were dug up during the 1937 building work and were transferred to Pentridge Prison.How is it significant?The former Police Garage is of historical, architectural and archaeological significance to the State of Victoria.Why is it significant?The former Police Garage is historically significant as evidence of the important role the police played in the continuing development of the area as a legal precinct. The juxtaposition of the garage to the former Russell Street Police Headquarters and the City Watch House provides a historical continuum of the development of the police force in Victoria. The garage is additionally significant for demonstrating the modernisation andmotorisation of the police force in Victoria.The former Police Garage is architecturally significant for its integration into the surviving fabric of the Old Melbourne Gaol complex. The walls are evidence of three different periods of the complex's construction. The architecture is significant for the integration of a modern 1930s lightweight sawtooth roof into the existing historic bluestone fabric.The former Police Garage is archaeologically significant as a site that has the potential to reveal evidence of the original gaol hospital built in the early 1860s. It has additional archaeological significance as the burial site ofprisoners executed at the gaol.Construction dates 1937,Architect/Designer Everett, Percy, '.GRAEME BUTLER 1985 MELBOURNE CENTRAL ACTIVITIES DISTRICT CONSERVATION STUDYBUILDING IDENTIFICATION FORM___________________________Australasian Historical ArchaeologyVolume 22 Issue 2004 (2004)Identification and historical truth: the Russell Street Police Garage burialsby Hewitt, Geoff; Wright, Richard___________________________VICTORIA HERITAGE DATABASEVictorian Heritage Register___________________________HERITAGE BRANCH, MINISTRY FOR PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT 1987 CITY OF MELBOURNE CENTRAL CITY NOTABLE BUILDINGS CITATIONSSTATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCEThe police garage was built in 1925 to service the police activities along Russell Street and incorporated in its front wall part of theearlier structure of the Old Melbourne Gaol. It is notable in indicating the original extent of the former Gaol.___________________________NEWSPAPERS:1925https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/2060005 illustTRANSFORMING OLD MELBOURNE GAOLIn the massive bluestone walls of the old Melbourne Gaol, which no convict could ever hope to pierce, are now being constructed open gateways for the motor police branch. The contrast between the ancient stone work and modern brick work is pronounced.1943https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/11333154SOLDIERS ESCAPE FROM MILITARY DETENTION CENTREMilitary and civil police are searching for soldiers who escaped from military detention centre, Old Melbourne Gaol, opposite police head- quarters, Russell st, city, on Fri- day. It is believed that 23 soldiers escaped and 7 were caught before they got away from school buildings near by. At first it was reported that 9 soldiers had escaped, and 5 were caught, but military authorities would not comment yesterday on the actual position. Some civil police believe that the search is for 16 soldiers dressed in fatigue suits. Slates had been removed from the roof of the 3-tier cell section of the old gaol, and all of the fugitives would have broken free but for the vigilance of a constable who, from a room in the new police head- quarters overlooking the old gaol, saw them running over the glass topped roof of the police garage. Some of the men were caught as they slid down drain pipes into the grounds of the Melbourne Technical College at the rear of the detention centre. Wireless patrolmen aided military police and Commonwealth peace officers in rounding up the fugitives..1956https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/71651216Advertisements for car sales held at the garage..
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Research and reports
Record number:
1262435
| Type | Reference No. | Extent | Status/Desc |
|---|---|---|---|
| Original | 108558 | 1 PDF : 1,254 KB ; A4 | Group of Items (May not be issued, may not be reproduced) |