by John Horne

Not everyone realises yet that the Bowman Hall in Campbell Street will be demolished in the future when the Walker Company ( who now owns the Civic Centre site ) will be developing it .

The Leo Kelly Art Centre ( the old Anglican Church building ), the Blacktown Council Civic Centre , surrounding carparks and the WROC Building ( the former Prospect County Council Building ) will also be demolished .

Walkers will probably bulldoze the whole site and start over with something new for the Blacktown CBD . But Blacktown will lose heritage sites of local importance .

Currently there are moves afoot to try to have a LEP ( Local Environment Plan ) applied to the two historic structures : the Bowman Hall and the Anglican Church which will help to protect them in the future . Several Blacktown councillors and the NSW State member of Parliament , Stephen Bali , are in the process of trying to have these two heritage places listed on the Local Environment Plan and the NSW State Heritage List .

The Bowman Hall has significance , not just for the local area and NSW , but Australia , because of its connections with the birth of modern Australia and multiculturalism during the Gough Whitlam years after 1972 . Gough Whitlam and the Labor Party opened their Federal election campaign in the Bowman Hall in 1972 . Labor won this election and between 1972 and 1975 , many features which characterise modern Australia like Medibank ( today ’ s Medicare ) were introduced .

The Bowman Hall , opened in 1962 , is

the current Town Hall for Blacktown City and can accommodate up to 700 people . It is the centre for local , state and Australian Government uses and is available for hire for private meetings or conferences and private functions for which it is still used .

For over sixty years the Bowman Hall has been at the centre of Blacktown ’ s community and social Life .

- Dances and balls such as the

Mayoress Balls and Masonic Balls - Naturalisation ceremonies - The Australian Electoral Office held voting for various local , state and Australian elections

- Mass inoculations for babies in the 1960s

- Civic Receptions : Maureen Caird , the first Olympic Gold Medallist from Blacktown Shire was awarded the Key to Blacktown at a civic function in 1968

- Blacktown Hospital Nurse Graduation Ceremonies

- Concerts , such as Sydney Symphony Orchestra concerts

- Public and private school drama and music shows and award ceremonies - Expos featuring community services - NSW Seniors ’ Week functions , dinners and concerts - Proclamation of Blacktown as a City in 1979 - Multicultural communities ’ functions - Political Rallies such as Gough Whitlam ’ s 1972 “ It ’ s Time ” Campaign Launch for the 1972 Federal Election

- Large private functions , wedding receptions , New Year ’ s Eve Parties and more

Originally there was a weatherboard hall in Flushcombe Road that was owned

by the Orange Lodge . It was used for public and private events until the School of Arts Building was erected between 1905 and 1909 .

Before the twentieth century Blacktown ’ s CBD did not have a public hall , apart from the Orange Hall which was also called the Mutual Improvements Public Hall in Flushcombe Road . However , after 1909 there was always some kind of public hall for which the Bowman Hall is the modern iteration .

The Bowman Hall was preceded by the Blacktown School of Arts ( 1909-1960 ), the Rivoli Theatre ( 1922-1946 ) and the Warrick Theatre ( 1949-1964 ), all of which were in Main Street . These buildings were used for some of the roles that the Bowman Hall ( 1962 to today ) still has .

The Blacktown School of Arts , opened in 1909 fronting 75 Main Street , was a substantial weatherboard timber building with an iron roof . It comprised a large hall with a raised stage and a public lending library and reading room . There was also a club room and a billiard room at the rear .

Four hundred people could be seated in the hall . It was used extensively for local entertainment , dances , wedding receptions and other family and social events , suppers , fundraising and during the 1950s was used for extra classroom space for Blacktown Public School .

Apart from the local churches , with their own halls , like the Anglicans ( in Flushcombe Road ), the Roman Catholics ( St Patrick ’ s in Patrick Street ), the Methodists ( in Flushcombe Road ) and the Presbyterians ( in Campbell Street ), the School of Arts was an important public building because Blacktown did not have a town hall .

Over time the School of Arts building needed to be replaced because of its age , so during the 1950s negotiations began between the School of Arts Committee and the Blacktown Shire Council . Plans were formulated to replace the aging dilapidated building with a new civic hall . Eventually in 1960 the School of Arts Committee transferred the site to the Blacktown Shire Council who sold it and used the money to help fund the construction of the Bowman Hall which opened in June1962 . The name Bowman Hall was given in honour of Mrs Bowman who had donated the land on which the Blacktown School of Arts once stood .

Two other historic halls are preserved in Blacktown City today , The Rooty Hill School of Arts and the Mt Druitt Advancement Club Hall . Let ’ s keep the Bowman Hall too .

[ The sources for information used in this article were : Jan Herivel , Blacktown Libraries ’ Local History Librarian , local historian Les Tod OAM and the Blacktown and District Historical Society ’ s Journal , The Turret ( August 1984 ) with an article by the late Jim Simpson .]

The Bowman Hall in June 1962 ( BDHS Image 6829 Courtesy the Carl Syme Collection held by Riverstone and District Historical Society ).