Victoria Hall, Theatre building in Fremantle, Australia.
Victoria Hall is a two-storey brick and stone building on High Street designed by Talbot Hobbs, built in 1896–97 as St John's Parish Hall. It stands among 1960s shopfronts as one of the few goldrush-era buildings left in the east end of High Street. It now serves as a multi-use arts venue with a separate events bar.
Designed by Talbot Hobbs, Victoria Hall was built in 1896–1897 as St John's Parish Hall and renamed for Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee. Governor Smith and his wife opened it on 28 September 1897. In 1974 a plan to widen High Street would have demolished it, but a green ban by the Builders Labourers Federation stopped the work while Bob Wrightson still owned the building.
The hall's name marks Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee in 1897, the year Governor Smith and his wife opened it. After World War II Bob Wrightson ran a dance studio here before buying the building. It later housed the Deckchair Theatre until 2012 and the Fly by Night Club from 2015 to 2018.
The building sits on High Street in a central location that is easily accessible on foot. Visiting is most straightforward when you check ahead about scheduled performances and public events that are held regularly.
Victoria Hall is one of the few goldrush-era buildings left in the east end of High Street, which is otherwise mostly a 1960s streetscape. Bob Wrightson, who first leased the hall as a dance studio after the Second World War, still owned it when the 1974 demolition plan arose.
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