FORMER BENDIGO EAST STATE SCHOOL NO.3893

The brick school building at the former Bendigo East State School is of local historical, aesthetic (architectural) and social significance.

The brick school building at the former Bendigo East State School is of local historical, social and aesthetic (architectural) significance.

The main school building at the former Bendigo East State School is of historical significance as evidence of the expansion of the East Bendigo area in the 1910s. The increasing industry in the area, including the establishment of the railway workshops in 1912, resulted in an influx of inhabitants and the consequent need for schooling facilities for the children of the workers. It is also of historical significance as a major focus for primary education for a period of approximately 80 years. The school clearly was a major focus for the local community, as reflected in the choice of the site for the establishment of an avenue of honour following WWI (since removed). (Criterion A)

The main brick school building at the former Bendigo East State School is of architectural significance as a good and externally relatively intact example of a brick school building of the 1910s. The building exhibits design qualities and detailing typical of the early twentieth century. Of note are the elaborate rendered pediment and the use of roughcast finish, including to the distinctive tapered chimneys in combination with the red brick. (Criterion E)

Bendigo East State School, which closed in the mid-1990s, has been a long-standing focus for the Bendigo community and there is a level of local attachment to the place particularly on the part of former pupils. (Criterion G)