In the final decades of the nineteenth century, when our local district was being settled, most new towns were planned and surveyed by the Department of Lands, which created streets and housing allotments through the subdivision of Crown Land. Our neighbouring towns of Yandina and Woombye were laid out in this way, but not Nambour. The government of the day considered that Woombye would be the main town of the district, and so had built a Police Station and Court House there. 

With greater foresight than Government officials, and realising the impact the coming of the railway would have on the Petrie's Creek district, a local landowner, Mr H. Raff subdivided a number of town allotments from his own freehold land in 1889, and these were the beginnings of the close settlement that would develop into a village, then a town. 

When the railway line was opened in early 1891 and the thirty people of Petrie's Creek adopted the name Nambour for their village (after the cattle station), development of the area began in earnest. Mr Raff's confidence was fully justified, for within the next ten years were established the Nambour State School, the Commercial Hotel, St Joseph's Catholic Church, St John's Anglican Church, the Salvation Army Corps, and last but not least, the Moreton Central Sugar Mill with its tramway network. 

The construction of the sugar mill in 1896-97 itself attracted people and progress to our town. Finally recognising this, the government relocated the Woombye Police Station and Court House buildings to Nambour. In the first years of the twentieth century, Nambour also gained the Royal Hotel, Whalley's Universal Stores, Lowe's butcher shop, the Post Office, The Chronicle newspaper, and its first two doctors. 

In 1902 the State Government introduced its Local Authorities Act, which abolished all Divisional Boards and replaced them with City, Town or Shire Councils. In our area, the Maroochy Divisional Board became the Maroochy Shire Council. It was to be composed of a Shire Chairman, a Shire Clerk, and eight Councillors. 

The primary function of Shire Councils was to provide such public services and amenities as parks and reserves, cemeteries, libraries, recreational facilities, water reticulation, sanitation services, roads, bridges, wharves, street lighting, public health services (such as immunisations), licences and registrations for businesses, markets and animals, town planning, and the control of noxious weeds and other pests. 

In early 1907, with the population of Nambour now approaching 800, a committee of citizens was set up to build a public hall in the town. In those days, such a hall was called the local 'School of Arts'. At the same time, the Maroochy Shire Council had come to the realisation that its offices in Blackall Terrace were inconveniently located and should be moved to the centre of Nambour.  

The editor of the three year old newspaper, The Chronicle, proposed that these two projects be amalgamated, and that the School of Arts committee and the Shire Council combine their resources. He suggested that a hall and shire offices be built at a site in Currie Street which the Council already leased from George L. Bury, adjoining the railway station (the northern end of Centenary Square presently occupies this site). Optimistically, the paper also began referring to the proposed new building as the Nambour Town Hall.

 A typical shop in Currie Street, Nambour in 1910.
Photograph courtesy Sunshine Coast Libraries  

The newspaper's suggestion soon gained support in the town, and in the issue of 22nd June 1907 it reported a move by Councillor Cottell to call a special meeting of the Council on July 1st to examine the proposal in detail. Cottell had only been a Councillor for six months, but had made a good impression on the newspaper's editor.  {23-2-1907, p.4} 

To begin with, the new Town Hall would cost well under ₤1000. This money would not need to come from the ratepayers, but could be borrowed from the State government. The building would have two storeys. At street level would be four shops, the rent from each being estimated at seven shillings and sixpence per week. This income of nearly ₤80 per year would be more than sufficient to cover the loan repayments, so actually the new building would pay for itself, and indeed make a profit to the advantage of Maroochy ratepayers.

On the upper floor would be a commodious Council office and meeting room. As desired by the School of Arts committee, there would also be a library and reading room, both of which were badly needed in the town. A public hall would be built at the back of the building.

With reference to the project, the new editor wrote, "From the point of view of any resident of Nambour, who derives a certain amount of pleasure in seeing his town progress, the proposal for such a decided improvement as the new institution will be, must meet with complete support."

Knowing that there was growing opposition to the project from Maroochy ratepayers outside of Nambour, he also wrote, "We may add that already we know that several gentlemen of influence who do not reside at or near Nambour, and who, perhaps for that reason alone, pooh-poohed the idea of a 'Town Hall for Nambour' when it was first mentioned to them, have, on an explanation being given, expressed their entire approval." Nambour waited anxiously for the outcome of the July 1st special Council meeting to see if their Town Hall would be built.

William Whalley’s Universal Stores in Currie Street, Nambour in about 1905. The proposed Town Hall was planned to be directly opposite. A vacant store is on Whalley’s site today.
Photograph courtesy Sunshine Coast Libraries

At the special meeting, Councillor Cottell gave the Chairman a copy of a plan he had prepared for a Town Hall, showing a two-storeyed building. On the upper level were Council rooms and extra rooms for leasing, and on the lower level, four shops and a hall for entertainment. To fund the construction, a loan of ₤750 would have to be secured from the State government.  {6-7-1907, p.2}

Cr Cottell stated that the existing Shire Hall, the old 'Board Hall' in Blackall Terrace, was inconveniently located. It was also an expense to the Council, while the new Hall would be self-supporting, thanks to the rental paid by the shops at street level. The interest and redemption charges on a ten year loan of ₤750 would be ₤90 per annum, while receipts from rents and hiring of the hall could possibly reach ₤120 per year.  The Hall would therefore not cost the Maroochy ratepayers anything, but would actually earn money for them. Cr Cottell said that he expected that the Hall could make a profit of possibly ₤60 per year. 

The joint owner of The Chronicle, solicitor Mr A. W. Thynne, represented the School of Arts committee. He asked that space be set aside in the building for the use of a public library or School of Arts, saying that such assistance from the Council would materially help the committee to provide congenial and educational entertainment for the town's young people.  

Cr Lowe said that he would do all he could to support the proposal. He presented figures that supported Cr Cottell's contention that the Hall would be a means of profit for ratepayers. Up until this point, all was boding well for a Town Hall for Nambour, but the meeting suddenly took a negative and heated turn. 

The Chronicle tells us what happened next. "Cr Kelly, representing Division 1 (Yandina) said he could not support it and he doubted if it were a payable scheme. (Kelly had been a Councillor for nine years, including his time on the Maroochy Divisional Board.) Crs Cottell and Lowe here challenged Cr Kelly to disprove their figures, and Cr Kelly said that such a building was not required except for beautifying Nambour. A somewhat similar scheme had been brought forward in his first or second year on the Council, and had been rejected. (Cr Lowe: Under totally different conditions, and you know it.) Cr Kelly continued, saying that even allowing that all they had said was correct, he had no intention of supporting the motion."  

The meeting then adjourned for lunch, and, on resuming, the Chairman said that whereas he had prior to lunch been in favour of the proposal, he had in the interval consulted with his colleagues in Division 3 and would now vote against it. He stated that the loan would touch the pockets of every ratepayer (Crs Lowe and Cottell: No, it will put money into their pockets.) 

Cr T. D. Smith said he had been in sympathy with the proposal until three of the ratepayers of his area stated clearly their opposition. He could not therefore vote for it, although he had partly promised to do so. When questioned by Cr Hassall over the claim that the Town Hall would be self-supporting, Cr Lowe said in exasperation, "No-one with any brains can question the figures." As the meeting progressed towards a vote, the future of a Nambour Town Hall looked increasingly doubtful.

 A team of 18 bullocks heads north along Currie Street in 1909.
Photograph courtesy Sunshine Coast Libraries  

As the special meeting progressed, the debate over the Nambour Town Hall project became quite heated. Though the proposal enjoyed full support from the people of Nambour, ratepayers in outlying parts of the Maroochy Shire opposed it vehemently, in the mistaken belief that the cost of building the Hall would mean an increase in their rates. It was obvious that ratepayers in outlying districts had made their opposition to the idea of funding it through a Council loan from the State government quite plain to their Councillors. Minds had been made up even before Crs Cottell and Lowe had explained that the new building would pay for itself.

To quote one example of the opposition the project faced, the secretary of the Palmwoods Progress Association had been instructed to write to the Shire Council, stating their objection to getting a loan for the purpose of building a Nambour Town Hall. The  report of their monthly meeting, printed in The Chronicle, said that "some very strong words were used, and it was considered a piece of cheek for the Nambour people to try to get a public building at the ratepayers' expense, to serve their ends as a School of Arts and save them building one. If Nambour people wanted to pay for it themselves it would be a different matter, but for the general ratepayer to pay for Nambour's improvements is a bit too strong."   {6-7-1907, p.4}

To calm the Council meeting, the Chairman suggested that a vote on the matter be deferred. Cr Kelly responded by moving that the proposal be deferred for one year. Crs Lowe and Cottell strongly objected to this, the latter saying that such a suggestion was very unfair as it would prevent the matter being brought up again, and he intended to bring it up again at the very next meeting. Cr Kelly responded by saying that he for one was not going to attend meetings for that sort of business. Cr Cottell retaliated with the suggestion that he might stay away and allow the matter to be passed by those who were in sympathy with it. 

When a semblance of calmness was restored, the Chairman suggested that a referendum be held to measure the public's support. The Shire Clerk advised that a referendum would cost ₤6 to ₤10. Cr Lowe said in exasperation that he would prefer to see the ₤6 put into some bog-hole.{6-7-1907, p.2}  The motion to have a referendum was lost, so the proposal to build a Nambour Town Hall was put to the vote. Cr Cottell alone voted for the proposal, and seven Councillors voted against it. Realising it was a lost cause, Cr Lowe chose not to vote. That was the end of the Nambour Town Hall…  for the time being.

Wirth Brothers' Circus arrives in Nambour, July 1911. As well as the elephants, the menagerie included a hippopotamus worth ₤1250.
Photograph courtesy Sunshine Coast Libraries

 An elephant with its wagon climbs Currie Street, past the Commercial Hotel. The pedestrians seem to be taking slight interest.
Photograph courtesy Sunshine Coast Libraries
 

The editor of the local newspaper, The Chronicle, had this to say in his inimitable, forthright style:

"It is a long time since Nambour has received such an undeserved slap in the face from the district of which it is the principal centre, as it did in connection with the motion (to build a Town Hall). We must confess to feeling positively disgusted at the result until we reflected that the councillors, while admitting (except in two cases) that the proposal was financially sound, had been influenced by the remarks of ratepayers who really did not understand the proposal. How could they, when the figures or even the plan had not been made public? 

"Nambour, instead of seeking to aggrandize herself at the expense of the general ratepayer, really submitted a proposal which stood to benefit the ratepayer to the extent of probably ₤60 the first year, and of a steadily increasing amount each succeeding year. 

"The narrow view seems to have been taken that Nambour was seeking to get a cheap School of Arts. Well, as to that, we consider it to be an insult, and that anyone making such an insinuation is actuated solely and simply by despicable petty jealousy. To hear such talk, one would think Nambour invariably acted on the 'all-take-and-no-give' principle. This has not been so – far from it." 

The paper then listed the numerous buildings and organizations in the outlying areas that had benefited from financial assistance paid by Nambour ratepayers. There were the Dulong-Kureelpa School of Arts committee among others, and "churches, schools, sports grounds, Show Societies, &c. &c." 

It went on to say, "Make what enquiries you like, and you will find that Nambour has not been backward in assisting many objects that tended to the moral and social elevation of the outlying districts. Therefore we claim that Nambour is entitled to a little gratitude, which supporting the (Town Hall) project means. It will be brought forward again, so there is time for repentance and amends. And let there be no more rubbish about a 'cheap School of Arts'! We may inform all who care to know it, that in our opinion the new Hall was the primary part of the proposal, the more convenient Council offices the secondary, and the reading rooms the tertiary. In future, any arguments we hear which do not agree to this basis will receive as scant consideration as Nambour's proposal for a Town Hall has hitherto received."  {6-7-1907, p.2}

It would be another four years before a Town Hall for Nambour was back on the Council's agenda.

  In 1916 these saleyards were in Currie Street, opposite the Commercial Hotel. Whalley's Universal Stores is the two-storeyed building in the background left of centre, and the Royal Hotel is on the skyline at far right. The photographer appears to have been on the railway bridge over Price Street. That street was put through in 1907.
Photograph courtesy Sunshine Coast Libraries