Albany Bell Castle - The Company

The Company

Albany Bell Ltd employed over 400 people in its factory and tearooms. All received two weeks' paid annual leave, long before any employment awards required it. Additionally, employees in Kalgoorlie received rail fares and seaside accommodation for the two weeks; Perth employees received travel expenses enabling them to travel up to 150 miles (240 km). During 1925, Mr Bell as chairman of the Master Caterers Association became involved in a strike lasting for almost a month. Discouraged by further strikes, rising costs and competition, Mr Bell sold the company and factory in 1928.

The factory then changed hands many times, becoming a chicken hatchery and, later, a reserve building for WA Newspapers Ltd during World War Two when there were concerns that the paper's St Georges Terrace building might be bombed. Several editions of the Daily News were printed there. After the war it became the offices of the Department of Transport and the Civil Aviation Authority. Later, the Royal W.A. Institute for the Blind occupied it, establishing its Blind School and providing housing for the children who attended. When the building again became vacant in the 1970s, it was used for rehearsals by the West Australian Opera. In November 1992, the property was assessed under the Heritage Council criteria adopted in 1991, and listed on the interim register. It was eventually resold and developed into apartment accommodation, retaining the external structure and gardens.