Back to search results » Back to search page »   Print 

Former St. Arnaud Power House, 25 Preece Street, ST ARNAUD

Location

25 Preece Street ST ARNAUD, NORTHERN GRAMPIANS SHIRE

Level

Recommended for Heritage Overlay

Statement of Significance

The Former St. Arnaud Power House, 25 Preece Street, St. Arnaud, was constructed in 1924 by a Mr. A.J. Preece for the St. Arnaud Council. It has significance as a legacy of former technological infrastructure adopted by the local Council, which had contemplated the continuation of a gas lit system prior to the construction of this building. The place also has historical significance as the first Power House in Victoria, which has two 110 hp and 55 hp semi diesel crude oil starting Ruston Hornsby engines that provided the electricity.

The Former St. Arnaud Power House is architecturally significant at a LOCAL level. It demonstrates original design qualities of an interwar industrial vernacular style. These qualities include the single storey, three bayed composition with distinctive projecting brick parapets and piers on the main facade. Other intact qualities include the simple gable roof form clad in galvanised corrugated iron, unpainted brick wall construction, modest eaves, rear side and bevelled pilasters, pilasters on the street facade, which punctuated a wide unpainted brick and dentillated stringcourse at eaves height and a bevel edged plinth at ground level, building title in the upper reaches of the main wall plane which reads "St. Arnaud Council Power House 1924", symmetrical horizontal banks of timber framed fixed windows with upper hopper sashes, central doorway (but not door and surrounds) and the masonry lintels and sills. The uninterrupted views of the sides of the building also contribute to the significance of the place.

The Former St. Arnaud Power House is historically significant at STATE and scientifically significant at LOCAL levels. It is associated with infrastructure development in the town by the local Council in 1924, when it was decided that electricity (as opposed to gas) was to be the main source of lighting. The two 110 hp and 55 hp semi diesel crude oil starting Ruston Hornsby engines that were once located in the building contribute to the historical significance of the place, as the first power house in Victoria with that type of engine. The building is also associated with the Maryborough Knitting Mill, who acquired the building after the closure of the power house well before 1971 and occupied the premises until the 1980s.

The Former St. Arnaud Power House is socially significant at a LOCAL level. It is recognised by the St. Arnaud community as having public value for its former use as the local power house prior to S.E.C. supply in the latter 20th century.

Overall, the Former St. Arnaud Power House is of LOCAL significance.

Group

Utilities - Electricity

Category

Generator/Power Station - coal/gas/oil