Presbyterian Church Hall (former)

Alexander McLean purchased the entire portion in 1871 and it was subdivided in 1877 and again in 1885. Two of the three subdivisions were sold to trustees for £120. The trustees mortgaged the blocks, now totalling a little more than a quarter of an acre, presumably to provide funds for the construction of a wooden church with a shingled roof for the Ithaca Presbyterian congregation. The Presbyterian community in the area had been expanding for some time, in line with the general population growth then taking place in Brisbane. The congregation had been active since 1880 and had taken root in a branch Sunday school of the Wickham Terrace Presbyterian Church. The school was initially held in a Petrie Terrace shop owned by a Mr R. Menzies. Evening services were soon added, and, as the population expanded further and brought more Presbyterians to the locale, the Sunday school was relocated to the Red Hill School of Arts at Waterworks road. It was here that the idea for construction of a new local church was proposed.

Local builder E. Farris of Wellington Road, Red Hill constructed the church at a cost of £250. It was designed to hold up to 270 people, and the first church assembly, conducted by Rev. C McCulloch, was held on Sunday 6 December 1885. The first regular minister was Rev. G Crawford, who was appointed in 1887.

The Church served until 1929, when, partly in response to the needs of a growing congregation, the current Presbyterian Church was built. After this the former church was used as a church hall and Sunday School. The property was re-subdivided in 1949 and ownership transferred from the trustees directly to the Presbyterian Church itself. The hall roof was damaged by fire in 1956, and this is probably when the present corrugated metal roof was installed. Restroom amenities were expanded in 1972.

The building was sold to the developer Spero Conias in 1980 and it underwent renovations and alterations. These included the replacement of floorboards and wall panels, the addition of leadlight windows, the conversion of the altar area to a stage, and general maintenance work. A fully equipped commercial kitchen was also added. Since then it has been resold and seen a variety of different business and community uses. It was “The Paddington Reception Centre” for a period and was home to the Queensland Fencing Club, a yoga centre, and has even been used as a restaurant.

The previous front foyer to the worship space, at the front centre portion of the building, projects forward towards the street.  Centred within the lower portion of the projecting front wall is a lancet arch leadlight window. To the left and in the left side of this projecting section of the building are lancet arch timber doorways. Along both sidewalls similar lancet arch windows replicate along the length of the walls. Each of the windows and doors have a decorative timber moulding over the upper portion.

A low timber picket fence runs along the street alignments. Being sited on a corner block the building is quite prominent in the streetscape, even through it is nestled amongst some large shade trees.

1. Brisbane City Council Building Card, M0-067-016 and M063-029 023

2. Brisbane City Council Water Supply and Sewerage Detail Plans

3. Brisbane Centenary Official Historical Souvenir 1923, p199

4. Brisbane Courier, 7 December, 1885

5. The Courier Mail, 23 November, 1935

6. Department of Natural Resources, Queensland Certificates of title and other records.

7. Environmental Protection Agency

8. McKellar's Map of Brisbane and Suburbs. Brisbane: Surveyor-General’s Office, 1895

9. The Sunday Mail, 21 April, 1929

10. Telegraph, 16 April, 1981

11. Advertisement in The Sun 2 September, 1988

12. Daily Sun, 19 February 1983