Ipswich Civic Centre

Although The Ipswich Civic Centre started construction in 1970, it was a solution to an issue that Ipswich had been facing for almost a century. The first Town Hall was situated in the building that originally housed the School of Arts, in 1861 when Ipswich had a population of approximately 3287 people. Even in the early days there was a complaint that the Town Hall was not big enough, and the first extension was designed in 1892. By 1909 the council proposed a new building, at the site that today is home to the Memorial Hall. This new building would have required the council to go into debt, and when the option was presented to the public they voted against the move.

In 1938 the council purchased several buildings, including the former St. Paul’s Young Men’s Club and the former Bank of Australasia, in the hopes of using them to take some pressure off of the Town Hall itself. While this was thought to be the solution they quickly found they still didn’t have enough space, and the Town Hall itself was not being well maintained. Within the Town Hall the area that was used for public performances was not only too small, but too out of date for what was needed, by 1969 the Town Hall was closed to the public, and became used exclusively as offices.

Originally referred to as the Ipswich Civic Hall, the building was part of a Civic Centre Plan, that would encompass the blocks between Limestone Street in the south, Roderick Street in the north, East Street in the east, and Ellenborough street in the west.  Complementing the Civic Hall was the W.G. Hayden Humanities Centre (corner of South and Nicholas Streets, opened 1977), the Council administration building (South Street, opened 1985), the Courthouse (corner of Limestone and East Streets, opened 1981), Hayden Centre (corner South and East Street, opened for Federal Government offices).  Proposed buildings included a town hall on the corner of East and South Streets (where the Global Information Centre / Ipswich Libraries would be located from 1995, until relocating to Tulmur Place), and a proposed memorial regional library, with children's library, that would have resulted in the demolition of the Soldiers' Memorial Hall, and a Tavern, that would have resulted in the demolition of Liberty Hall | Mary Tregear Hostel.

The Civic Hall was opened on the 19^th July 1975 by the sitting Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam. Both the Prime Minister and his wife, Margaret, attended the opening celebrations, which included performances by the Cambrian Youth Choir, the Blackstone-Ipswich Cambrian Choir, Peter Schubel on the piano, Ipswich Choral Society, Bruce Harper on the guitar and Ipswich Orpheus Chorale. The performances for the evening began at 7.45 and ended at 9.45.

The building provided four different spaces that could be used for events:

• The Logan Room: 70 people
• The Lockyer Room: 78 people at tables or 100 people in conference style
• The Cunningham Room: 250 people at tables, or 330 in conference style
• The Auditorium: up to 600 people in the stalls and 200 people in the overhead gallery.

Between 1977 and 1980 Ipswich City Council produced a Yearbook, in which they reviewed the use of the Civic Hall. During this period it was as cheap as $4.00/hour to rent the Logan room, and $50.00/hour to rent the Auditorium. Within the first three years of service the Civic Centre had held approximately 1283 functions, and 418000 patrons. By 1980 the Civic Centre had hosted concerts, eisteddfodau, balls, speech nights, weddings, seminars and even a Cabinet Meeting for the Queensland Government.

Over the years the Civic Centre has been updated, and has held many roles in the lives of the Ipswich Public. Many couples were married there, Australians participated in their citizenship ceremonies, and graduations were celebrated.

Gough Whitlam returned to the site in 2005 to celebrate the 30^th anniversary, and in 2015 the 40^th anniversary was celebrated with the return of the 4IP Big Band, who had performed at the opening ceremony in 1975, The Mayor’s Command Performance, and a community Open Day.

2025 marks the 50^th anniversary of the Civic Centre, and a week was set aside in July to host performances to celebrate the milestone. These ranged from musical comedies to magic shows.

Opening night program, 19th July 1975:

7:45pm  Cambrian Youth Choir, as dinner guests proceed to auditorium

7:55pm  Prime Minister's party proceeds to auditorium

7:58pm  Cambrian Youth Choir completes their program 

8:02pm  City Administrator, Mr. Milton, introduces the Mayor, Ald. George Hastings.  The Mayor welcomes the Prime Minister and addresses guests.

8:05pm  Prime Minister's address in reply and officially opens the Civic Hall

8:20pm  Blackstone-Ipswich Cambrian Choir

8:40pm  Pianist - Peter Schubel

8:50pm  Ipswich Choral Society

9:10pm  Classical guitarist - Bruce Harper

9:20pm  Ipswich Orpheus Chorale

9:42pm  Prime Minister departs

9:45pm  Night concludes

The building itself was designed by Mr. Brian Simpson ( from the firm Conrad, Elser and Simpson), and built under the supervision of Kratzmann Holdings by local tradespeople. Brian Simpson was quoted in the newspapers at the time describing his design as more function than form, pointing out that all decorative aspects of the building fulfilled a practical role as well.

It was painted white, as Simpson associated this with a sub-tropical climate, it would help to keep the building cool and because it provided a good background for the landscaping outside. The landscaping was also designed to fit the sub-tropical climate of Ipswich by Marsh Nurseries. The gardens had a range of plants, including ornamental shrubs and ground cover, as well as hanging baskets and at least 41 palm trees.

At the time the building was state of the art, although there were some members of the public that questioned the design. By the time the Civic Centre was finished it seemed the public had come around to its design, and were proud to have the building as part of the city, a sentiment that continues to this day.