Location: 100 Marshall Street, Goondiwindi
The Goondiwindi Civic Centre comprises council offices, cinema and shops.
The complex was erected as council chambers and town hall for the Goondiwindi Town Council. It replaced existing timber council chambers and the School of Arts building which had been used as a de facto town hall. The complex was designed by architects GF Addison and HS McDonald and built for a cost of £10,400 by TC Clarke. It was erected in 1937 and opened by the Minister for Health and Home Affairs, EM Hanlon in 1938.
The main façade is in the Art Deco style which became popular in the 1930s. The Goondiwindi Town Hall and Council Chambers was one of a group of substantial town halls built throughout Queensland in the late 1930s including Monto, Gayndah, Mossman, Rockhampton, Innisfail, Boonah and Wondai as a result of state government subsidies. The Goondiwindi Town Council received a subsidy of £5200 to assist with the cost of construction.
The hall was used for a wide range of community activities as well as a cinema. Since the construction of a new community centre in 1990, the hall has been used as a cinema. The council offices were refurbished and upgraded in 1995.
Only minimal changes have been undertaken to the main façade which is a dominant element in the streetscape.
Significance
The Goondiwindi Town Hall and Council Chambers is significant as a fine example of 1930s town hall in the Art Deco style. It is a dominant element in the streetscape and demonstrates the growth of Goondiwindi and the region in the latter half of the 1930s.
