The Former Colac Shire Hall - Murray Street, Colac

            The first Colac Shire Hall was built in 1865, but was replaced because of concerns of its structural safety, by the more substantial and imposing structure that stands on Colac's main street, Murray Street, in 1892. 

The new Colac Shire Hall was built as a testament to Colac's increasing prosperity in the late Nineteenth Century as its wealth and development was generated by the booming grazing industries of the large estates of the Western District.  

The former Colac Shire Hall, built next to the post office at 6 Murray Street, has been built in Victorian Italianate style.  The Shire Hall is a smart and well proportioned, two storey, rendered building.  It is symmetrical with a central projecting entrance portico.  There is a fine palisade fence at the front of the former Colac Shire Hall, curving into either side of the main entrance. The ground floor windows are arched with decorative mouldings and firmly detailed architraves and echo those of the adjacent former post office.  Pilasters may be found across the facade of the former Shire Hall on both the ground and first floors. Above each of the rectangular windows on the upper floor are triangular pediments. 

Although Colac is still the central base for the municipal offices of the Otway Shire Council, the Murray Street premises have been outgrown by the council and today it is occupied by Colac Adult Education and Aged Care Services.  At the time of photographing, several professional suites in the building were available to be let to suitable tenants.

Located approximately 150 kilometres to the south-west of Melbourne, past Geelong is the small Western District city of Colac.  The area was originally settled by Europeans in 1837 by pastoralist Hugh Murray.  A small community sprung up on the southern shore of a large lake amid the volcanic plains.  The community was proclaimed a town, Lake Colac, in 1848, named after the lake upon which it perches.  The post office opened in 1848 as Lake Colac and was renamed Colac in 1854 when the city changed its name.  The township grew over the years, its wealth generated by the booming grazing industries of the large estates of the Western District and the dairy industry that accompanied it.  Colac has a long high street shopping precinct, several churches, botanic gardens, a Masonic hall and a smattering of large properties within its boundaries, showing the conspicuous wealth of the city.  Today Colac is still a commercial centre for the agricultural district that surrounds it with a population of around 10,000 people.  Although not strictly a tourist town, Colac has many beautiful surviving historical buildings or interest, tree lined streets.  Colac is known as “the Gateway to the Otways” (a reference to the Otway Ranges and surrounding forest area that is located just to the south of the town).

Taken in: Australia / Victoria / Colac (show map)

Taken on: April 22, 2014

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Camera: Canon DIGITAL IXUS 80 IS, f/8.0, 1/200 sec, 6.2mm, ISO 80 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon DIGITAL IXUS 80 IS
Aperture:	f/8.0
Exposure Time:	0.005 sec (1/200)
Focal Length:	6.2mm
ISO:	80
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Auto, Did not fire
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
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