page_title: Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts
section_title: Original premises
hierarchical_section_title: Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts / History / Original premises
caption_attribution_description: English: Reading Room of a city library, the Mechanics Institute and School of Arts, 275 Pitt Street
context_page_description: The Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts is the longest running School of Arts and the oldest continuous lending library in Australia.
  Founded in 1833, the school counted many of the colony's educated elite as members, and quickly positioned itself as a centre for social change and intellectual life of the city of Sydney with a program of public lectures, courses, lending library and other activities based on its mission of adult education. Now in new premises, the SMSA continues to offer public education programs and grants today. In 2011 the SMSA opened The Tom Keneally Centre, which holds the research collection of world-renowned author Thomas Keneally from his private collection and memorabilia.
context_section_description: In February 1837 the SMSA moved into their new building in Pitt Street. Although it had been established in 1833, it had no premises. The initial meetings were held in rooms around the city, firstly in the Australian College, and from 1834 until 1837 in rooms allocated in the house formerly occupied by Superintendent of Police Captain Francis Rossi at "Church Hill" in the Rocks district, which were provided by the Governor until the School could obtain a site for a permanent home. In January 1836 a lease was secured for a vacant site in Pitt Street adjacent to the Congregationalist Independent chapel, which had been designed by John Verge and opened in 1830. Tenders were called for in The Sydney Herald to erect a Mechanics' School of Arts building in March 1836 and the building was completed in time for the SMSA Annual General meeting on 6 February 1837.
  In January 1845, an advertisement appeared in the newly retitled Sydney Morning Herald advising the public that the Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts building was for sale. The sale was proposed to fund the relocation of the school to a new site to allow for the construction of a larger building. It appears, however, that there was a change of heart, for the Committee of the SMSA purchased the building and the leasehold of the property itself, and began planning extensions on the site.
  The need for extra space was a constant concern for the SMSA. In 1852 a petition was presented to the Legislative Council seeking permission for the SMSA to sell or swap a parcel of land set aside for it in George Street South for the purpose of purchasing a site in a more central location. With the funds available the SMSA Committee was able to move quickly when the neighbouring building, the Independent Chapel, was put on the market on 7 January 1855. Purchasing this site gave the School the opportunity to double the size of its building without having to relocate. With this in mind, a public appeal for donations to fund proposed works was advertised in newspapers from 1856.
  Work began in earnest in early 1860 which joined the two formerly separate buildings of the old SMSA and the Independent Chapel into one frontage. Internally the walls of the older buildings and many of the internal spaces were retained and adapted. The new façade was designed in a Palladian style with late Georgian features such as Corinthian columns on the upper level, round fanlights with keystones, corbelled cornice and interlocking circles with a central panel inscribed "Sydney School of Arts", all of which are still visible. With the building works completed, but with a £2000 debt, classes continued. Ongoing repairs and alterations, such as new skylights to the reading room, lining of walls and ceilings and other works, contributed to costs for the School.
  The new building served the SMSA well, providing more room for concerts and performances, larger reading rooms and reference library as well as updated facilities including new overhead gas lighting. Already "one of the most prosperous institutions in the colony...", the renovations made it even more attractive and were expected to "...bring about an increase in its membership." Excavations were also proposed for the installation of an electric motor to power the School's lighting. However, after the government took over the Technical and Working Men's College and then stopped leasing the SMSA hall for the new Sydney Technical College at the beginning of 1888, the loss of income to the School meant that this work did not proceed. A continuing downturn in income saw further changes made to the SMSA building in a bid to improve finances. Between 1891 and 1894 the rents received by the SMSA fell from £1670 to £439 per annum. The decision to build shops into the front of the building was taken and in 1895–96 three shops were added to the ground floor in what had been the library and committee room provided much-needed revenue for the SMSA which was otherwise in decline. With falling cash reserves, by the early 1980s the SMSA found it increasingly difficult to main
caption: The reading room of the library in the 1920s, by Sam Hood
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