The city's cultural boulevard
Adelaide has its main cultural buildings clustered alongside each other. The city is unique among Australian cities as it was planned, a surveyor Colonel William Light, planned the city and laid down the basic structure before the arrival of the first white settlers. The centre of the city was to be a grid and he very imaginatively called the roads which were the boundaries, North, South, West and East Terrace. Outside these streets is a circle of parkland and then the suburbs beyond.
North Terrace developed into the cultural precinct, it began with the construction of the Institute, which housed the library, art gallery and museum of the young colony.
The Institute building, the oldest building on North Terrace, now part of the S.A. Library and it holds temporary exhibitions. The statue in front of it was placed there much later, it's King Edward the VII, who reigned 1901-1910.
As the colony grew so did the cultural precinct, a separate museum was built. The current museum was built in stages, the oldest part is the red brick building in the centre, it has a 1960s addition in the front of it and the side wing was built later. The more ornate and was built when the colony had more money!
The Art Gallery, Robert Hannaford is a well known Australian artist and the gallery is holding a special exhibition of his work. He lives in South Australia.
The Mitchell building, a part of the University of Adelaide.
The Elder Hall, it is part of the Elder Conservatorium of Music. The statue is that of Thomas Elder, the wealthy pastoralist who helped establish the 'con' and donated money for the building of the hall, which opened in 1900. Concerts are regularly held in the hall for the public by the con's students.
Bonython Hall, part of the University of Adelaide. It's used for the university graduation ceremonies as well as special events, I've attended art exhibitions there. Despite its appearance the hall was built in the mid 1930s thanks to the donation of Langdon Bonython who was a wealthy newspaper owner in Adelaide. He also paid for the completion of South Australia's parliament house which had languished in its unfinished state for 20 or so years. The floor in the hall is slanted, folklore has it that it was built this way so the hall could not be used for dances!
Huge tree in the university grounds, I thought it was a Morton Bay Fig, but it doesn't seem to have the aerial roots that they have.
The Brookman building, part of the University of South Australia. Originally this building had been The School of Mines and Industries. Another wealthy benefactor George Brookman who had made it fortune in the Western Australian Gold mines, donated money to built this school. (North Terrace would look a lot different if there weren't so many philanthropists!) With the South Australian colony heavily dependent on its mines (copper in particular) a school of mines and industries was important to train the next generation of engineers.
I've always called this statue the Boar War Memorial, but looking it up I see that it's also known as the South African War Memorial. It's the first war memorial in Adelaide and was placed in a prominent position on the intersection of North Terrace and King William Road. (The road that bisects Adelaide, named after Queen Adelaide's husband!) According to my research the statue commemorates the 1531 South Australians and 1500 horses (not everyone got a horse!) that were sent to South Africa to fight in the Boar War 1899-1902. It was the first war that South Australians fought in. The statue was unveiled in 1904.
Adelaide has its main cultural buildings clustered alongside each other. The city is unique among Australian cities as it was planned, a surveyor Colonel William Light, planned the city and laid down the basic structure before the arrival of the first white settlers. The centre of the city was to be a grid and he very imaginatively called the roads which were the boundaries, North, South, West and East Terrace. Outside these streets is a circle of parkland and then the suburbs beyond.
North Terrace developed into the cultural precinct, it began with the construction of the Institute, which housed the library, art gallery and museum of the young colony.
The Institute building, the oldest building on North Terrace, now part of the S.A. Library and it holds temporary exhibitions. The statue in front of it was placed there much later, it's King Edward the VII, who reigned 1901-1910.
As the colony grew so did the cultural precinct, a separate museum was built. The current museum was built in stages, the oldest part is the red brick building in the centre, it has a 1960s addition in the front of it and the side wing was built later. The more ornate and was built when the colony had more money!
The Art Gallery, Robert Hannaford is a well known Australian artist and the gallery is holding a special exhibition of his work. He lives in South Australia.
The Mitchell building, a part of the University of Adelaide.
The Elder Hall, it is part of the Elder Conservatorium of Music. The statue is that of Thomas Elder, the wealthy pastoralist who helped establish the 'con' and donated money for the building of the hall, which opened in 1900. Concerts are regularly held in the hall for the public by the con's students.
Bonython Hall, part of the University of Adelaide. It's used for the university graduation ceremonies as well as special events, I've attended art exhibitions there. Despite its appearance the hall was built in the mid 1930s thanks to the donation of Langdon Bonython who was a wealthy newspaper owner in Adelaide. He also paid for the completion of South Australia's parliament house which had languished in its unfinished state for 20 or so years. The floor in the hall is slanted, folklore has it that it was built this way so the hall could not be used for dances!
I've always called this statue the Boar War Memorial, but looking it up I see that it's also known as the South African War Memorial. It's the first war memorial in Adelaide and was placed in a prominent position on the intersection of North Terrace and King William Road. (The road that bisects Adelaide, named after Queen Adelaide's husband!) According to my research the statue commemorates the 1531 South Australians and 1500 horses (not everyone got a horse!) that were sent to South Africa to fight in the Boar War 1899-1902. It was the first war that South Australians fought in. The statue was unveiled in 1904.
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