Union Hall was a theatre, hall and lecture theatre located on the North Terrace campus of the University of Adelaide, in South Australia. Constructed in 1958, Union Hall served as a performance venue for various festivals and productions until 2007. It was demolished in November 2010 to make way for a new science precinct.
In 1955, in response to a shortage of student space on the North Terrace campus, the University of Adelaide began a public appeal for funds with which to renovate and expand the buildings of the Adelaide University Union (AUU).[1] The appeal raised £103,761, with notable contributions including £6,000 from the AUU and £12,000 from Holden.[2] The majority of these funds were set aside to erect a multi-purpose theatre for the Union's use. Designed by South Australian architect Louis Laybourne Smith, the building was named "Union Hall", and opened on 8 August 1958.[3] The Hall was built with 499 seats, thereby avoiding an ordinance requiring a full-time fireman for buildings with seating capacity of 500 or more.[4] [5]
Union Hall was a venue for Adelaide's first Festival of the Arts in 1960 and the venue for the first 10 Adelaide Film Festivals, from 1959 to 1968.[6] [7]
There was a cafe/bar called "The Catacombs" operating in the basement of Union Hall in the 1970s and 1990s, which was popular with a more alternative crowd than the other bars in Union House. It never did particularly well, and closed a few times.
In 1999, control of Union Hall was handed from the AUU to the University, and the hall was renovated into a lecture theatre, in the process reducing its capacity to 415 seats. In 2007, the University ceased allowing the use of the hall for artistic and theatrical purposes, turning it into a full-time lecture theatre.[8] [9]
In September 2009, the University of Adelaide announced that Union Hall would be demolished in order to construct a new science precinct centred on a proposed Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing.[10] The announcement was met with opposition from the local arts community,[11] the National Trust of South Australia,[12] and the City of Adelaide.[13] In February 2010, the hall was provisionally listed on the State Heritage Register,[14] [15] allowing for submissions from the public regarding the heritage status of the hall. However, in September, South Australian Minister for Environment and Conservation Paul Caica removed it from the register,[16] and the hall was demolished between 17 and 26 November of the same year.[17]
Construction started soon after, on the Bragg's building. It completed construction in 2013 and was inaugurated by the new Vice-Chancellor Warren Bebbington.[18]
Union Hall was originally constructed to seat 499, with a stage 72feet from front to back and a proscenium arch of 38feet. Under the stage was an extensive basement with dressing rooms, and electrical room and a workshop.
Photos of Union Hall: 2005:left; 2006:front; 2010:left, centre, right
