Jubilee Exhibition Building
| Jubilee Exhibition Building | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| General information | |
| Status | Demolished |
| Location | North Terrace, Adelaide |
| Construction started | 1885 |
| Completed | 1887 |
| Opened | 20 June 1887 |
| Demolished | 1962 |
| Cost | £20,217 (1887) |
The Jubilee Exhibition Building was built to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Queen Victoria's accession to the throne on 20 June 1837. The jubilees of her Coronation on 28 June 1838, and of the Proclamation of South Australia on 28 December 1836, were also invoked on occasion.
The building was located opposite the corner of North Terrace and Pulteney Street. on what is now the University of Adelaide's North Terrace campus, between Bonython Hall and the old School of Mines building (now UniSA's City East campus) on the Frome Road corner. It was opened on 20 June 1887 and was used until the mid 1920s. In 1929 the land and building were transferred to the University, and the building was demolished in 1962 to make way for the Napier building. There were two fountains in front of the building. One is now located in front of the Adelaide Arcade, the other in the Creswell Gardens.
The idea of South Australia hosting an international exhibition as a patriotic gesture was promoted in the early 1880s, culminating in a Bill which was passed by Parliament in 1883. Subsequent opposition to the scheme on the grounds of the expense involved saw the Bill being repealed in 1884, and Sir Edwin T. Smith pushed for a less grandiose celebration, which resulted in the Act of 1885, and the voting of ₤32,000 for a permanent Exhibition Building, which after the Jubilee would become the home of the South Australian Institute.
As originally conceived by Government Architect E. J. Woods, the new building was to have a dome 112 feet (34 m) wide, an art gallery, 46 by 252 feet (14 by 77 m), a court 120 by 43 feet (37 by 13 m) with a gallery round it of 10 feet (3.0 m) width. A basement below this section 10 feet (3.0 m) high, three open courts for lighting and ventilation, each 120 by 66 feet (37 by 20 m) by 40 feet (12 m) high. Height of the dome 80 feet (24 m), 127 feet (39 m) from the floor to the crown of the inner dome, and 192 feet (59 m) from the floor line to the apex of the dome externally.
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