Rosalie Community Kindergarten and Preschool facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Rosalie Community Kindergarten and Preschool |
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Rosalie Community Kindergarten and Preschool, 2009
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| Location | 57 Elizabeth Street, Paddington, Queensland, Australia |
| Design period | 1919–1930s (interwar period) |
| Built | 1935 |
| Architect | Arnold Edward Brooks |
| Architectural style(s) | Georgian |
| Official name: Rosalie Community Kindergarten and Preschool, Rosalie Kindergarten, The Little Citizens Free Kindergarten | |
| Type | state heritage (built, landscape) |
| Designated | 27 September 2002 |
| Reference no. | 602380 |
| Significant period | 1930s (historical) 1930s (fabric) 1935–ongoing (social) |
| Significant components | kindergarten, playground |
| Builders | Ralph Alexander Lind |
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The Rosalie Community Kindergarten and Preschool is a special old building in Paddington, Australia. It was designed by Arnold Edward Brooks and built in 1935. This building is important because it shows how childcare and education for young children changed over time. It's also known as Rosalie Kindergarten or The Little Citizens Free Kindergarten. Because of its history and design, it was added to the Queensland Heritage Register in 2002.
Contents
A Look Back: How Kindergartens Started
The Rosalie Community Kindergarten is a two-storey timber building. It was built in 1935 for the Crèche and Kindergarten Association. The architect, Arnold Edward Brooks, designed it.
Kindergartens became popular in the late 1800s. People started to understand that good food, cleanliness, and exercise were important for children's health. This idea was part of the "Infant Welfare" movement, which began around 1904 in Australia. It aimed to make children healthier and help mothers learn about childcare.
In the early 1900s, people started to think about raising children in a more "scientific" way. This meant focusing on active play and healthy food. Buildings for children were designed to be bright, clean, and airy. This was a big change from how children were raised in Victorian times.
Early Childcare in Queensland
The Crèche and Kindergarten Association of Queensland started in 1907. They looked after babies and children up to five years old. One of their early places was in Rosalie (now Paddington). The first childcare building in Brisbane was Paddington Kindergarten, built in 1916.
In 1922, a law called the Maternity Act was passed in Queensland. This law helped set up hospitals and clinics for mothers and babies. The government wanted to make sure people were healthy and that more babies were born. Money from the Golden Casket Lottery helped pay for these projects. This lottery started in 1916 to help soldiers. Later, its money went to help mothers, children, and hospitals.
Building the Rosalie Kindergarten
Hazel Joyce Harrison became the director of the Rosalie Crèche and Kindergarten in 1926. The association had rented different places for years. In 1933, a "Mother's Club" was formed to raise money for a permanent building. They worked hard and raised a good amount of money.
They also got help from Ned Hanlon, a government minister. He promised that the government would help pay for the new kindergarten. The government gave money from the Golden Casket funds to match what the community raised. They also provided money to buy the land.
In 1935, the land at Elizabeth and Nash Streets was bought. Even with government help, more money was needed. So, the government gave a loan to cover the rest of the cost.
The Architect: Arnold Brooks
Arnold Brooks was the architect who designed the new kindergarten. He had designed other buildings, including the Canberra Hotel. Brooks had worked with many famous architects. He was known for designing buildings for social welfare, like places for children and the elderly. In 1929, he became the architect for the Queensland Crèche and Kindergarten Association.
Construction and Opening
On April 1, 1935, a company called R A Lind & Sons started building the kindergarten. It cost a lot of money to build. On November 23, 1935, the new building was officially opened. It was called 'The Little Citizen's Free Kindergarten'.
At the time, it was thought to be the best-designed kindergarten in Australia. It had many new and clever features. These included a home for the caretaker on the top floor. There were also separate play areas for toddlers and older children. It had a covered play area and large teaching rooms that could be divided by folding doors.
Rosalie Kindergarten has also been important for training early childhood teachers. Since 1911, it has helped teach students from the Brisbane Kindergarten Training College. In 1940, it was one of the first places to try out a "Nursery School" program for children aged 2 to 5.
The kindergarten has always helped the community. It cared for many children for up to five days a week. It provided hot meals and stayed open long hours so mothers could work. During the Great Depression, the hours were even longer to help families. During World War II, kindergartens like Rosalie reopened quickly. This allowed mothers to help with war work.
The Kindergarten is still used today as a childcare center. The building's design has worked well for many years. Only small changes have been made since it was built. This shows how good the original design was.
What Makes the Building Special?
The Rosalie Community Kindergarten and Preschool is on a triangular piece of land. It faces Elizabeth and Nash Streets. The building is made of timber weatherboards. These are wooden planks that overlap to protect the building from weather. It has a central two-storey part with single-storey sections on each side.
The roof is made of terracotta tiles and has a complex shape. The most noticeable part of the front (Elizabeth Street side) is a two-storey porch. This porch is the entrance on the ground floor and has a small balcony above. The windows have many small panes, which shows the Georgian style influence. This style often uses balanced and symmetrical designs.
Inside the Kindergarten
The building is set up with different areas for public use, private use, and services. A timber staircase leads to the upper floor. This floor used to be the caretaker's home. It had a laundry and bathroom with original fittings. Today, this floor is used for storage.
On the ground floor, you find the entrance and service areas. These are separated from the main teaching and play areas by a waiting room. The teaching area is big and airy. It can be divided into smaller rooms using folding doors. The bathrooms are at each end of the building. They still have early timber partitions and cabinets.
A wide verandah runs along two sides of the playrooms. It has timber railings with metal mesh above them. Stairs from the verandah lead down to a play area under the building.
The inside walls are lined with boards up to a certain height (called a dado). Above that, they have fibrous cement sheeting. The ceilings are also made of fibrous cement sheeting with timber strips. The building has nice details, like carefully cut corners and special bases on the weatherboard walls. The timber railings on the verandahs are also well-made. Many original fittings and door handles are still there. This shows the high quality of the building's design and construction.
On the Nash Street side of the building, there is a playground with old, tall trees.
Why Rosalie Kindergarten is Important
The Rosalie Community Kindergarten and Preschool is listed on the Queensland Heritage Register. This means it's a very important place.
It shows how ideas about health, education, and childcare changed in Queensland in the early 1900s. The size and quality of the building show that the government at the time cared about helping mothers and children. The design of the building, with its focus on light, space, and fresh air, was very modern for its time.
This kindergarten is special because it was built specifically for its purpose before World War II. There are not many other buildings like it in Queensland.
It also shows what a well-designed kindergarten of that time looked like. People thought it was a great example when it was built. It's still used for its original purpose today, and very few changes have been made to it. This means it's still very much like it was when it was new.
The building also looks beautiful. It uses the Georgian revival style, which is a classic design. It also has features that fit in with Queensland's local building style. It's a well-known landmark in the area.
Finally, the Rosalie Community Kindergarten has been important to the local community for many years. It has provided education and fun for children, trained teachers, and helped mothers. It also shows the important work of architect Arnold E Brooks, who was known for his new ideas in designing places for children and the elderly.
