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MECHANICS INSTITUTE

Other Name RECHABITE HALL Location 14 BURKE STREET, SANDFORD, GLENELG SHIRE Level Recommended for Heritage Overlay

[1/1] 52404 Mechanics Institute

Statement of Significance

What is Significant?
The Mechanics Institute is located at 14 Burke Street, in the centre of the 'village' of Sandford opposite the site of the former State School. It sits adjacent ot the Forester's Hall, at 16 Burke Street. Both buildings share the original Mechanics Institute Reserve, but a simple post and wire fence surrounds each building and its land, defining one from the other. The Mechanics Institute was built in 1886. Both buildings were the result of local people coming together for mutual benefit. John Stewart Anderson, a local saddler, was an important early member of the Mechanics Institute at Sandford, and was also a member of the Board of Advice for the South Riding to the Shire of Glenelg, the Sandford Common Committee, the Rifle Club, the Sandford Cemetery Trust, and a foundation member of the Ancient Order of Foresters. He established 'penny readings' and the money raised formed the nucleus of the library later housed in the reading room at the rear of the Mechanics Hall. The Mechanics Institute is a simple red brick building with a corrugated iron roof. The interiors are simple, and appear to have been little altered since about 1920. The floors are local hardwood timber and the internal walls are rendered. As secretary of the Institute he called for tenders and James McCormack was the successful tenderer. The building remains in very good condition and has an excellent degree of integrity.

How is it Significant?
The Mechanics Institute Hall is of historical, social and architectural significance to the Glenelg Shire.

Why is it Significant?
The Mechanics Institute Hall is of historical significance for its association with important local figures who contributed to the welfare and advancement of the community. The Mechanics Institute is of social significance as the focus of communal activities, improvement and recreation. It is of architectural significance for the use of very simple vernacular forms and traditional building techniques using local materials.