Caulfield Town Hall

Corner Glen Eira and Hawthorn Roads, Caulfield

Glen Eira Town Hall was built in 1885 and was originally known as Caulfield Shire Hall. The original design of Shire surveyor Sydney Smith was much more elaborate, and cost issues only allowed council to implement part of it.

There is no known image of the first building, but it had no clock tower and was single-storey plain brick with a modest sized hall. It also housed a post office and courthouse accessible from Hawthorn Road. It got its second storey (without the tower top) and a portico in 1891.

In 1931, a re-modelling of then-named Caulfield Town Hall added a larger main hall, new upper and lower foyer, neo-Grecian portico, clock tower and bronze Honour Roll. The main hall was originally a vast space, with a grand stage surrounded by a proscenium arch and a balcony at the rear of the hall. The redeveloped building was officially reopened on 25 February and dedicated on 31 March. The redevelopment involved many local unemployed tradesmen and was a major part of Council’s employment relief scheme during the Great Depression.

A new mezzanine floor was added to the main hall in 1987, creating two separate spaces. A new staircase was also installed in the middle of the lower portico foyer to better connect the two levels. The ground floor became an art gallery and the first floor area remained a community hall. The Glen Eira Town Hall Auditorium, as the main hall is now known, has retained its original colonnades, ceilings and lead lighting, providing a link to its architectural heritage.

The award-winning Caulfield Municipal Offices extension opened in 1991, and Caulfield Library moved from Maple Street to its present site in 1993.

Source City of Glen Eira website

Tour by Hidden Melbourne