I wrote about this lovely little building in July 2008.
At the time I knew that it was the Social Centre for General Motors Holden at Fishermens's Bend and I'd been lucky to visit there in 1996 and get a guided tour from the Centre manager. But I didn't know when it had been built.
The highlight of my visit was seeing the History of Transport murals by GMH employee, Eileen Robertson, located at either end of the canteen service area. You can see them in this photo and there are closer views on my previous post.
This week, however, I have been doing some work with the City of Port Melbourne Building Permits Register and was delighted to come across a entry dated 31st January 1945 for a canteen to be built for General Motors Holden by Richmond builder E A Watts.
So now I have my date. The GMH Social Centre was built in 1945.
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Maybe I missed it but is the building still there and intact? It looks wonderful.
ReplyDeleteAndrew, It's a great building but it isn't on a public street. The only reason you can see it at all is because they knocked down a lot of the old factory and turned the area behind the Admin building into Portside Business Park.
ReplyDeleteThe best place to see it is to go down Bayside Avenue off Salmon St. The Social Centre is over the black fence behind the trees on the left with Portside on your right.
If you know anyone who works at GMH who can show you the murals then I couldn't recommend it highly enough.