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EUCALYPTUS DISCOVERY CENTRE

Other Name WANNON SHIRE OFFICES (SECOND) Location 69-71 Whyte Street COLERAINE, Southern Grampians Shire File Number 500 Level Stage 2 study complete

[1/2] 23146 Eucalyptus Centre [2/2] 23146 Eucalyptus Centre

Statement of Significance

What is significant?
The Eucalyptus Discovery Centre, formerly the Wannon Shire Offices is located at 69-71 Whyte Street in the centre of the township of Coleraine. The land had been donated to the Shire in 1946 by Indar Sondhu, an Indian Hawker who was so successful as a merchant that he could purchase a substantial squatting homestead near Harrow. He may have intended the new 'Town Hall' to have been a memorial to those who had served and died in both World Wars. The Council Chambers, a modest two-storey cream brick building in a conservative Moderne style were built in 1961. The foundation stone, laid by Cr. Gaussen of Gringegalgona, commemorated the fallen of the Australian, Imperial and Indian forces in WW1 and WW2. When the building was opened by the Minister for Local Government, Indar Sondhu unveiled a plague to commemorate fallen servicemen. The building superseded the 1874 Council Chambers on the opposite side of Whyte Street. The architect was A. C. Leith of Leith and Bartlett who had designed the much larger 1937 former Shire of Glenelg Council Chambers in Casterton. The Council Chamber, President's Room, Engineer's office and a kitchenette were located upstairs with the municipal library and other offices located downstairs. The building became redundant following the Kennett Government's program of municipal amalgamation. The ground floor now houses an interpretative display for the Peter Francis Points Arboretum. Other modifications were made and services improved. The upper floor continues to be used for community purposes. The building retains a very high degree of integrity, including much of the original furniture and furnishings and is in very good condition. It is surrounded by landscaped grounds, primarily planted out with native trees, shrubs and grasses.

Why is it Significant?
The former Wannon Shire Offices are of architectural, historical and social significance to the township of
Coleraine.

Why is it Significant?
The former Wannon Shire Offices are of architectural significance as the work of the leading Victorian municipal architect, A. C. Leith and as a good example of civic buildings in the Mid-Twentieth Century Moderne style. They are an important comparison with the earlier Shire of Glenelg Council Chambers, also designed by Leith. Historically the offices are significant for representing the last phase of the Shire of Wannon, for their association with Indar Sondhu, a successful Indian hawker, and as a memorial to the fallen in both World Wars. Socially, the place continues as an important site of community activity and as an educational facility for the township of Coleraine and the Southern Grampians Shire generally.