Published on Tuesday, 25 February 2025 at 8:00:00 AM
Welcome to #TimeWarpTuesday! This week we bring to you the next part of our mini-series on heritage places from the Town’s Municipal Heritage Inventory published in June 2000.
Heritage Places - Part Seven
Harold Hawthorne Senior Citizens Centre
PH00247-01 Harold Hawthorne Senior Citizens Centre and Homes Inc, circa 1997.
Photographed by Heritage Today circa 1996-2000 for the Town of Victoria Park Municipal Heritage Inventory, published June 2000.
Local History Collection, Town of Victoria Park Library Service.
Address: 2 Memorial Avenue, Carlisle
“Historical Notes
“The Harold Hawthorne Community Centre is built on the site of the old Bickford’s Soldiers’ Memorial Hall. The hall was erected after WWI in 1920, when Carlisle (formerly known as Bickford) began to rapidly expand. A plaque presently located in the Carlisle Memorial Hall (part of the Senior Citizens Centre) reads,
The Bickford Soldiers’ Memorial Hall was built by voluntary labour in honour of all who enlisted from this district in the Great War 1914-1918. Opened by His Excellency the Governor Sir Francis Newdegate KCMC 5-6-1920.
“This plaque is accompanied by a bronzed list of the fallen soldiers of WWI. The hall was used by returned soldiers to learn a trade. Morning and afternoon tea was supplied by local community residents. Other uses of the hall included movie theatre, weekly dances, Hutchings Dance School and badminton. However, membership of the Bickford Soldiers Association fell away and the hall became dilapidated.
PH00005-05 Construction of the Bickford Soldiers Memorial Hall
Local History Collection, Town of Victoria Park Library Service.
PH00005-03 Bickford Soldiers Memorial Hall, c. 1919 (nearly completed).
Local History Collection, Town of Victoria Park Library Service.
“In 1968 the Perth City Council took over the hall but it had fallen into such disrepair it was decided to demolish the hall and replace it [with] a more substantial building. The Carlisle Memorial Hall was built by Perth City Council with the co-operation of the previous hall committee. Their names are engraved on a wooden plaque in the present hall foyer. At the same time the Carlisle community began to work towards a social centre for Senior Citizens, similar to the one set up in Victoria Park. Fund raising began and three local councillors, Tom Wright, Mick Lee, and Harold Hawthorne supported the cause enthusiastically. The Senior Citizens Centre was designed by Architect M J Boyce and the building contract began in 1968 under Greenhalgh and Hewett Pty Ltd. The Perth City Council decided to call the centre the Harold Hawthorne Senior Citizens Centre in honour of Harold Hawthorne’s contribution to the Carlisle community.
“Harold Hawthorne was a prominent business man and citizen of Carlisle. He was well known, popular, hardworking and committed to community service. He was involved in fundraising for charity and became a City of Perth Councillor (1950-1966) and a Justice of the Peace.
“The Harold Hawthorne Senior Citizens Centre was opened by the City of Perth Mayor, Mr T Wardle, on 4 September 1969. The use of the Senior Citizens Centre grew steadily with many activities available. During the 1980s facilities were expanded with homes being built for the Aged. The refurbished Harold Hawthorne Centre was opened by the Lord Mayor, the Right Honourable R. G. Withers on 6 December 1991.
“The Carlisle Memorial Hall is still owned by the Town of Victoria Park but the Harold Hawthorne Centre leases the hall from them. The hall is hired by people for weddings and 21st birthday celebrations but the Harold Hawthorne Centre are the major users, for bingo, daily meetings and indoor bowls.
“Description
“The Harold Hawthorne Senior Citizens Centre is a complex of a number of buildings including a brick main building with a dome shaped roof, the Carlisle Memorial Hall, and a number of residential units.” (1).
Call to Action
Did you take dance lessons or celebrate a birthday in the Carlisle Memorial Hall at Harold Hawthorne Centre? Do you remember or have photos of the facilities being built or in use? Have you got photos or stories to tell? Then you might like to make a submission to the 2025 Local History Awards (https://www.victoriaparklibrary.wa.gov.au/local-history/local-history-awards). Even if you just have one old photograph of a place, event or thing in the Town’s long history, we’d love to see it. Please put your thinking cap on, get out your camera, talk to your relatives and neighbours and get documenting and researching. Your entry could win you a prize too, but you will be arguably winning the greater prize, that of knowing you have helped both present and future generations understand their community better.
#LoveVicPark
Reference:
- Heritage Today 2000, ‘Town of Victoria Park Local Heritage Inventory, Heritage Today, Mount Lawley.
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