This beautiful building was opened in 1894 where the Perth Concert Hall now stands. The Christian Brothers opened their first school in Western Australia on 31 January 1894 on the corner of St Georges Terrace and Victoria Avenue in Perth, naming it Christian Brothers College Perth. Initially at CBC Perth only day students were enrolled, but due to population growth in Western Australia during the gold rush period, pressure was put on the school to accept residential boarding students, the first of which were enrolled in June 1896. The site had physical limitations and in 1917, headmaster Br. Paul Nunan saw the necessity to acquire much larger property away from the city centre to accommodate the whole school. The brothers entered into negotiations for the purchase of 8 hectares (20 acres) at Point Heathcote on the Swan River, in 1928 they ended up purchasing 95 hectares (234 acres) on the Canning River just east of the Riverton Bridge naming it Clune Park. However, plans to develop this site were shelved due to the Great Depression.(I would suggest this is the property surrounding The Fleming Residence and becoming Castledare) In 1936, at the instigation of Br. Paul Keaney, the superior of nearby Clontarf Orphanage, 62.4 hectare (154 acre) were purchased from the Manning family at Mount Henry Peninsula at Salter Point on the Canning River at a cost of £9,925. In 1938 the boarders and some day students moved to the newly built Aquinas College, Salter Point campus, with most day students staying on at CBC Perth. The Aquinas College foundation stone was laid on 11 July 1937, and the new campus opened in February 1938 with 173 boarders and 55 day pupils. (Amazing price £9,925 for 154 acres in 1936 when a stones throw across the Canning River in Riverton West named Rossmoyne in February 1961, Victor Webb purchased 3000 acres for £9,000) When Perth was awarded the rights to host the 1962 Empire Games (now known as the Commonwealth Games), the Perth City Council saw the need to construct a large international hotel, they decided to build it next to CBC Perth. Shortly after, the council expressed interest in purchasing the CBC site to allow for the widening of St Georges Terrace and Victoria avenue. At this time, the college was facing the facts that the site was very small and the buildings were becoming run-down and educationally inadequate. The Council purchased the site from the College, for £267,000 and provided the Brothers with a new 14-acre (5.7 ha) site on the riverbank near the Western Australian Cricket Association grounds (WACA) Here, a brand new school at a cost of £270,000 was to be built. Prior to the demolition of the CBC Building, the Christian Brothers requested permission from Perth City Council to remove artifacts from the buildings. After some reticence the Council referred the Brothers to the Demolition Contractor who allowed the Brothers to move some relics. The Foundation stone of the 1895 West wing, the original school bell and eight of the ten Chapel windows were taken to Trinity College. Thanks to the efforts of a group of Old Aquinians the pinnacle from the spire of the water tower was taken to Aquinas. The ninth and tenth chapel windows of Saint David and St Thomas Aquinas went to Aquinas. In 1983 the St David window was swapped with the image of the Sacred Heart (that was at Trinity) and was placed in the Trinity Administration Building. Another window, the 1911 Signum Fidei was presumed lost. It was tracked down and thirty years later, the window was restored by the Trinity Old Boys association and presented to Trinity at the Colleges Centenary Dinner in May, 1994 Aquinas lives on, if my Dad survived I would have attended there after St Pius Xth in Ley Street Como and probably not been speaking to you today. With my Dads passing in 1971 and my Mums grief I was placed at Castledare for a term possibly gaining my appreciation for trains which still run today providing so much joy for the young and young at heart. Clontarf is a magnificent precinct and a welcome place to walk through looking over the playing fields and Canning River with popular farmers markets of the weekend. Thanks to Peter Nichols for sharing his fathers photos who also was adopted like me and many many others who may wonder about sliding doors and fate.
Posted on: Wed, 12 Nov 2014 01:12:26 +0000
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