User:Lemon Gelato/sandbox

Location

The former Commonwealth Bank building sits on lot 413 Town of Darwin, on the corner of Smith and Bennett Streets. This area was part of the banking precinct comprising the Bank of New South Wales (now Westpac Bank)and the Commercial Bank whose heritage listed facade now forms part of the newly constructed Charles Darwin Centre. Later the Reserve Bank was built on the last vacant corner of Smith and Bennett Streets and this building now houses the Tourist Information Centre.

Early History

On 15 March 1938 the Commonwealth Bank opened its first branch in Darwin with a staff of three in temporary premises in the Town Hall in Smith Street. A new building was constructed in 1940 and remains as "the only example of modern architecture of the international style of the 1930/40s in Darwin". The architect of the building was The Commonwealth of Australia Works and Service Branch of the Department of the Interior. In the early years of the 1940s the bank became increasingly busy and staff numbers had to increase from 3 staff in 1938 to 12 in 1942 in order to keep up with the increasing workload.

The building only suffered superficial damage during the Bombing of Darwin Air raids on 19 February 1942, but the bank was closed and the managers were evacuated to Alice Springs. The building was utilised by authorities during the war years and was reoccupied by the bank when it reopened operations in June 1944.

When Cyclone Tracy devastated Darwin In 1974, the bank suffered very little damage. Staff worked over Christmas to clean up the building, electricity was provided by a generator and the bank reopened on 6 January 1975.

On 11 May 1979, the branch became the 1000th branch of the bank to be placed on the computer line which went to the Adelaide Computer Centre (2628 km away, by far the largest computer link in Australia). The conversion program took three months and involved 70 staff.

Add images of building in 1940, after WW2, after Tracy. Articles in Trove showing the building of the bank in 1940 with scaffolding. http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/printArticlePdf/49462621/3?print=n Bank history http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/printArticlePdf/59649394/3?print=n

The bank was substantially altered and extended in 1970 and again in 1981.

Add a photo owned by NTL in creative commons and then add to Wikipedia. Use an old photo, also a new redeveloped one and one with war damage.

Recent History

In March 1996 the (former) Commonwealth Bank building was gazetted as a heritage place under the Northern Territory Heritage Conservation Act 1991. The following statement in regard to the ‘Statement of Heritage Value’ for the building is provided in the The NT Heritage Register "The Commonwealth Bank, constructed in 1940, is representative of the development of banking facilities in Darwin and the spread of the government services in this area nationally. The Commonwealth Bank is an excellent example of an Inter-war Functionalist style used to represent the forward looking approach of the administration of the Commonwealth Bank".

In September 2015, after a major restoration and renovation project, the building was reopened as a Food, Wine and Beer Bar named Rorkes. Add photo Pat took of current building

Do we want to ad this? The building operated as a bank until 2005. After the building was vacated it remained empty for long periods of time. In recent years/ in 2012/13??? check Paul Johnstone, owner of the Paul Johnstone Gallery organised used it as a Salon de Refuses while the entries selected for the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards were on display at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory. Check when CBA moved from there to new location. What was in it after they moved out? Check with DCC in regard to what else, Paul may also know? Jared at MAGNT?

References

Hardwick, Carol Lee; National Trust of Australia (Northern Territory); Northern Territory National Estate Programme (1984), Register of significant European cultural sites in the Northern Territory, National Trust of Australia (N T )

Mobbs, Charles Louis (1947), Commonwealth Bank of Australia in the Second World War : an outline of the bank's principal wartime activities from the outbreak of war in September, 1939, to the termination of hostilities in September, 1945, Commonwealth Bank of Australia