In 1996 the Chermside State School closed and the land was put up for sale. The Uniting Church bought roughly half the area for community use which included a church and a large parking area. The site was partly occupied by the original school building, a two-room 96-year-old timber structure, which was of no use to the developers but too good to be demolished. Because of its historic value, the Uniting Church, led by Rev. Cec Schloss, offered it to the people of Chermside for community use.
The offer was enthusiastically taken up by Terry Sullivan MP and Councillor Terry Hampson, but a couple of problems remained; which community organisation would look after it and where could the building be relocated for community use. The first problem was solved by the general consensus that it was necessary to 'retain some history of the area with all the change occurring' in the local area. Westfield was expanding, Kedron-Wavell RSL was expanding, the new Chermside library (the 1997 version, long since replaced) had been opened and was expanding, the aquatic centre had replaced the olympic pool, and Playfield Street was to be redeveloped for high rise. Out of this maelstrom of change the idea of forming a historical society emerged as a means of preserving something of the work and lifestyle of earlier Chermsiders. A committee was formed, public meetings were held to gauge the community interest, which was high enough to form a history society and the inaugural meeting was held at 2pm, Sunday 11th December 1997 in the Chermside Library.
The second problem, where to put the old school building, was solved by the dedication of the Chermside Historical Precinct in 1997 by the Brisbane City Council. The lot was already the site of Training Ship Voyager of the 2nd Chermside Sea Scouts which had taken out a lease on 1st October 1962 of a small area of about one acre. In May 1999 the building was cut in two and shifted from the corner of Rode and Gympie roads to the end of Banfield Street to be re-erected on high steel piers.
Although the building was well above the ground, it was vandalised and all the windows were smashed; this marked the beginning of a long and costly process of protecting the building in what was, at the time, a rather isolated location. To protect the windows large metal cages were fitted over them which allowed the casement windows to be opened outwards. Because of the cost of installing a lift, which would have cost in the vicinity of $60,000, for accessibility purposes the building was lowered almost to ground level and a ramp installed.
While the old school building was undergoing renovations by the State Government Jobs Training Scheme the society met in the Kedron-Wavell RSL meeting rooms. Finally, the first meeting was held in the renovated building on the 7th April 2002 while the society was incorporated on 23rd September 1999.
This text was written by Patrick O'Shea in 2010. It was updated by Bradley Scott in 2026.
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