Bold Copper Doors (Mount Isa Memorial Civic Centre, North West Queensland)

            In the 1970s business in Mount Isa was booming and the population was steadily growing. The royal visit of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip in 1970 prompted Mount Isa Mines to donate $100,000 towards the establishment of the Civic Centre Complex to include a multipurpose function centre and public library surrounded by a public garden space. The business community supported the project with $1,000 donations. 

Mount Isa City Council sponsored an architect’s competition for the design and planning of the complex, inviting six prominent firms to submit their plans. The winning entry was from Lund, Hutton, Newell and Paulsen, a Brisbane firm, and the building was designed by John M. Morton, who also designed the heritage listed Kinkabool building at Surfers Paradise for Lund, Hutton, Newell and Paulsen.

The contract architect for the project was Shane V Ryan. The library opened on the 26th of April 1974 and replaced the first public library building donated by Mount Isa Mines in 1958. Queensland Premier Hon. Joh Bjelke-Petersen officially opened the Civic Centre as a venue for concerts, theatre, conventions, private functions and art exhibitions on the 9th of November of the same year. Members of Mount Isa’s multicultural community attended the ceremony in their national costumes, displaying flags of twenty seven nations. 

The Civic Centre includes artwork by Mount Isa Mines resident artist Val Pinsker, consisting of two hand beaten copper wall murals. 

The building cost for the entire complex, which was one of the largest of its kind in Outback Queensland, amounted to $2.6 million. Mount Isa had shed its image of a struggling mining town and developed into the business, service, and administrative centre for the region, a fact that was recognised with the town receiving city status in 1968. The financial commitment by the community towards the Civic Centre Complex and the modern design, by a prominent Brisbane architectural firm, of the complex itself are a tangible expression of the confidence in the growth of the city in the 1970s.

The complex is situated in the centre of Mount Isa bordering on to the Leichhardt River, West Street, and Marian Street, as well as the Mount Isa City Council administration building. The
complex consists of the Mount Isa Memorial Civic Centre, an amphitheatre, library, a carpark, and surrounding park and gardens. The buildings display clear straight geometrical lines.

Materials used are predominantly concrete, glass and copper. The facades show exposed aggregate concrete panels, a feature mainly used in the 1970s.

Source: Mount Isa City Council Heritage Register.

Taken on: January 1, 2021

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Sets appears in: • North West Queensland (Kalkadoon/Mitakoodi Country)

Groups appears in: • Long Exposure • Buildings/Architecture more » • Night Lights • Lights & Shadows • Brutalist Architecture - béton (concrete) brut • Night Shot • Brutalist Architecture (inc. brick, metal and glass) • Metalicious • Shadows - Ombre • Architecture Directory • Night_shoots • Night shooters • Architecture Lab • GLOW !! • ₪ ARCHITECTUR•ℰxᴛᴇʀɪᴏʀ┼ɪɴsɪƊƐ•SIGN ₪ • Australian Councils • Civic Architecture • 1500 views plus « less

Camera: Nikon D5600, f/11.0, 9.1 sec, 21mm (=31mm), ISO 100 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Nikon D5600
Lens:	TAMRON 17-35mm F/2.8-4 Di OSD A037N
Aperture:	f/11.0
Exposure Time:	9.1
Focal Length:	21mm (35mm equivalent: 31mm)
ISO:	100
Exposure Bias:	+1 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Manual
Exposure Mode:	Manual
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Sharpness:	Hard
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 10.3 (Windows)
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