Ithaca Creek State School is a heritage-listed state school and war memorial at 49 Lugg Street, Bardon, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Queensland Department of Public Work (involving Andrew Baxter Leven, Nigel Laman Thomas, and Harold James Parr) and built from 1930 to 1939. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 5 February 2016.
History Ithaca Creek State School (established 1885), located in the inner Brisbane suburb of Bardon about four kilometres northwest of the Brisbane central business district (CBD), is important in demonstrating the evolution of state education and its associated architecture. It retains a Depression-era brick school building (1934–1936), constructed as a Depression-era work project, which is an aesthetically pleasing landmark in the streetscape; and landscaped grounds including retaining walls ( and pre-1960), a parade ground (1934–1936), tennis court (1939) with tennis shed (pre-1946), a playing field (1932), a World War II (WWII) memorial dedicated to The Rats of Tobruk, and mature trees. The school has a strong and ongoing association with its surrounding community.
The provision of state-administered education was important to the colonial governments of Australia. National schools, established in 1848 in New South Wales were continued in Queensland following the colony's creation in 1859. Following the introduction of the Education Act 1860, which established the Board of General Education and began standardising curriculum, training and facilities, Queensland's national and public schools grew from four in 1860 to 230 by 1875.Thom Blake, "Educating Queenslanders" in Queensland Historical Thematic Framework, 2007 (rev. 2013 by EHP), p. 2. The State Education Act 1875 provided for free, compulsory and secular primary education and established the Department of Public Instruction. This further standardised the provision of education, and despite difficulties, achieved the remarkable feat of bringing basic literacy to most Queensland children by 1900.Greg Logan and Eddie Clarke, State Education in Queensland: a brief history, a report for the Department of Education, Queensland, 1984, p. 2.
The establishment of schools was considered an essential step in the development of early communities and integral to their success. Locals often donated land and labour for a school's construction and the school community contributed to maintenance and development. Schools became a community focus, a symbol of progress, and a source of pride, with enduring connections formed with past pupils, parents, and teachers. The inclusion of war memorials and community halls reinforced these connections and provided a venue for a wide range of community events in schools across Queensland.Project Services, "Mount Morgan State High School" in Queensland Schools Heritage Study Part II Report, for Education Queensland, 2008, pp.4-5Paul Burmester, Margaret Pullar and Michael Kennedy Queensland Schools A Heritage Conservation Study, a report for the Department of Education, 1996, pp. 87-8.
To help ensure consistency and economy, the Queensland Government developed standard plans for its school buildings. From the 1860s until the 1960s, Queensland school buildings were predominantly timber-framed, an easy and cost-effective approach that also enabled the government to provide facilities in remote areas. Standard designs were continually refined in response to changing needs and educational philosophy and Queensland school buildings were particularly innovative in climate control, lighting, and ventilation. Standardisation produced distinctly similar schools across Queensland with complexes of typical components.Burmester et al, Queensland Schools A Heritage Conservation Study, pp. 84, 120-1.
Land in the vicinity of Ithaca Creek State School was first surveyed in the 1860s, but not auctioned as suburban lots until 1870. In 1880, an early local government area was created incorporating the land between Enoggera and Windsor; it was called Ithaca Division after the Ithaca Creek which flows through it. By 1884 a country postal receiving office operated at Ithaca Creek to serve the small community.Leslie, E Slaughter, Ithaca Creek State School 1884-1957. Ithaca Creek SS, Brisbane, 1957, p. 3QGG, 8 Jan 1870, p. 52Ithaca and Ithaca Shire, Queensland Places' <http://queenslandplaces.com.au/ithaca-and-thaca-shire>, accessed 21 Oct 2015Theophilis Pugh, Pugh's Queensland Almanac, Law Calendar, Directory, Coast Guide and Gazetteer for 1884, Theophilis Pugh, Brisbane, 1884, p. 128.
In the same year, the community petitioned the Minister for Public Lands to reserve land for a school at Ithaca Creek and soon afterwards a one hectare site (Portion 826B) was reserved for this purpose.Slaughter, Ithaca Creek State School 1884-1957, pp. 5, 7Queensland Government Gazette, 1884, vol. 2, p. 1226.
Ithaca Creek State School opened on a sloping site fronting Lugg Street (now in the suburb of Bardon with the City of Brisbane), on 28 September 1885, with a timber school building to accommodate 60 pupils. By December of that year 103 boys and 85 girls were enrolled with, on average, 66 boys and 55 girls attending.Slaughter, Ithaca Creek State School 1884-1957, p. 7.
The district continued to grow and in 1887 Ithaca Shire was formed from Ithaca Division. It comprised about one tenth of the former division (11.5 km2), included Paddington, Bardon and Red Hill, and had a population of about 10,000 residents.Ithaca and Ithaca Shire, Queensland Places' <http://queenslandplaces.com.au/ithaca-and-thaca-shire>, accessed 21 Oct 2015.
Further growth in the area took place, resulting in the creation of the Town of Ithaca, which replaced the shire in 1903. This development was promoted by the establishment of Brisbane's electric tram network after 1897, which extended from Roma Street to Enoggera Terrace, via Musgrave Road while a second route travelled along Caxton Street and Given Terrace. In 1925 the municipality of Ithaca was incorporated into Greater Brisbane.
Ithaca Creek State School grew in synchrony with this development, but its grounds needed work. In 1926 a school committee formed to improve the school grounds to meet modern ideas and provide better equipment for sporting activities. It created a scheme for extension and improvement of the school grounds, which at the time were under and extremely rough, resulting in the children playing on the roadway in front of the school. The scheme embraced the extension of the school grounds, and the provision of septic tanks, swimming pool, gymnasium, library, tennis court, and basketball courts. The first step was the filling in of a gully in the grounds.'Ithaca Creek School Ground Improvements', The Telegraph, 20 May 1932, p. 7.
Over the next six years, the committee provided over £550 and the Government provided approximately £410 for purchase of land. As a result, the grounds trebled in size to create a total area of approximately with purchase of land to the south and southeast of the school reserve creating access from Grace Street and Primrose Terrace.'Ithaca Creek School Grounds Improvements', The Telegraph, 20 May 1932, p. 7. In 1928 and 1929 respectively, Portion 138 (546sqm) and Portion 345A (3630m2) were added to the school reserve, increasing its size to 3 acres 3 roods and 21.1p (1.57 ha).[QGG, 1930, vol. 1, p. 352QGG, 1931, vol. 1, p. 2460DNRM, Survey Plan SL1131.] The land purchases were Lot 1 RP46439 (446m2) in 1930 (to the east of the school reserve)Lot 3 RP49597 (8283m2) in 1932 (to the south of the land purchased in 1930) and Lot 2 RP46439 (1088m2) in 1934 (giving access to Primrose Street).[DNRM Titles: Certificate of Title No. 341674, 349527, 363979.] This expansion was achieved despite the onset of worldwide economic depression.
The Great Depression, commencing in 1929 and extending well into the 1930s, caused a dramatic reduction of building work in Queensland and brought private building work to a standstill. In response, the Queensland Government provided relief work for unemployed Queenslanders and also embarked on an ambitious and important building programme using day labour and Queensland materials, to provide impetus to the economy.DPW, Report of the DPW for the Year Ended 30 June 1934, Queensland Government Printer, Brisbane, 1934, pp, 6-8DPW, Report of the DPW for the Year Ended 30 June 1935, Queensland Government Printer, Brisbane, 1935, p. 2Report of the DPW for the Year Ended 30 June 1936, Queensland Government Printer, Brisbane, 1936, p. 2'State will spend over £460,000: big building plans', The Courier-Mail, 28 Dec 1933, p. 9.
Even before the October 1929 stock market crash, the Queensland Government initiated an Unemployment Relief Scheme, through a work programme by the Department of Public Works. This included painting and repairs to school buildings.'Relief of unemployment: big programme contemplated', The Telegraph, 24 July 1929, p. 5'Unemployment: the relief scheme', The Telegraph, 26 July 1929, p. 5. By mid-1930 men were undertaking grounds improvement works to schools under the scheme.'Report of the Department of Public Works for the year ended 30 Jun 1930', p. 15.
Extensive funding was given for improvements to school grounds, including fencing and levelling ground for play areas, involving terracing and retaining walls. This work created many large school ovals, which prior to this period were mostly cleared of trees but not landscaped. These play areas became a standard inclusion within Queensland state schools and a characteristic element.Burmester et al, Queensland Schools A Heritage Conservation Study, p. 58. In mid-1932 unemployed men working under the government's relief scheme were employed at Ithaca Creek State School levelling its newly purchased grounds.'Ithaca Creek School Grounds Improvements', The Telegraph, 20 May 1932, p. 7. The Hon Richard Hill, Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly, told a gathering of parents in June 1932 that Department of Public Works' "expenditure on improvements to the school and its grounds, and expenditure under the intermittent relief scheme had totalled £2121, from 1929 to 1932. In addition, £800 had been approved for relief work at the school, and £126 for the purchase of additional land, making a total of £3047 for three years, or an average of £1000 a year".£1000 a year spent School improvements', Sunday Mail, 5 Jun 1932, p. 19.
In June 1932 the Forgan Smith Labor Government came to power from a campaign that advocated increased government spending to counter the effects of the Depression. The government embarked on a large public works building programme designed to promote the employment of local skilled workers, the purchase of local building materials and the production of commodious, low maintenance buildings which would be a long-term asset to the state. This building programme included: government offices, schools and colleges; university buildings; court houses and police stations; hospitals and asylums; and gaols.'Labor at the Helm', The Worker, 20 Jul 1932, p. 8'Queensland Parliament', The Northern Miner, 17 Aug 1932, p.2'Public Buildings', Daily Mercury, 19 Oct 1933, p. 7'State will spend over £460,000: big building plans', The Courier-Mail, 28 Dec 1933, p. 9Report of the DPW for the Year Ended 30 June 1939, Queensland Government Printer, Brisbane, 1939, p. 2.
Many of the programmes have had lasting beneficial effects for the citizens of Queensland, including the construction of masonry brick school buildings across the state. Most were designed in a classical idiom as this projects the sense of stability and optimism which the government sought to convey through the architecture of its public buildings.