Old Perth Fire Station - History

History

The Fire Brigade's original premises were located in the undercroft area of the Perth Town Hall, for which they paid a nominal rent. In 1899 the Fire Brigades Board proposed that land be bought in the proximity of the Town Hall and a new Fire Station be built. In October 1899 it was reported that the Roman Catholic Bishop Gibney had offered some land at the intersection of Murray and Irwin Streets, which was then purchased for ₤3,125. A list of architects was then submitted to the Board which on 26 October 1899 selected Michael Cavanagh, with the stipulation that the building he design not exceed ₤4,000. Michael Cavanagh, was an architect who came from Adelaide to Perth in 1895, attracted by the gold boom prosperity in Western Australia, forming his own architectural firm, Cavanagh & Cavanagh, with his brother James. Cavanagh also designed the Great Western Hotel (Brass Monkey Hotel), alterations to St Mary's Cathedral, Mount Hawthorn Hotel (Paddington Ale House), Fremantle Fire Station (1908), St Patrick's Basilica (Fremantle), Sisters of Mercy Convent (Bunbury) and remodelled the Archbishop's Palace. In the early 1900s Cavanagh was a member of the Perth City Council and a member of the Perth Fire Brigade Board. The building was completed in December 1900 and the Fire Brigade moved into their new premises on 1 January 1901.

By 1910, the Fire Brigade was finding it necessary to expand and decided that the No 1 Fire Station would have to be extended in order to accommodate extra plant, extra workshop accommodation, Boardroom and Officers` Quarters. The block adjacent to the Fire Station in Irwin Street was purchased from the Roman Catholic Church and the Board at a cost of ₤2,100 pounds. This block of land had a school building on it, so the building committee recommended that the Fire Brigade Staff (many of whom were skilled tradesmen) "...undertake the building of the workshops and lecture room with the old material available in the School". James (Jack) Learmonth Ochiltree was appointed as the architect for the additions (Ochiltree's firm, Ochiltree & Hargrave, went on to design a number of Inter-War Art Deco buildings in Perth). The additions to the building, consisting of new boardroom, offices, apparatus room, ambulance shed, store and chief officers` quarters, and was completed in 1914.