Toowoomba Permanent Building Society
| Toowoomba Permanent Building Society | |
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2014
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| Location | 2 Russell Street, Toowoomba, Toowoomba Region, Queensland, Australia |
| Coordinates | 27°33′35″S 151°57′20″E / 27.5596°S 151.9556°ECoordinates: 27°33′35″S 151°57′20″E / 27.5596°S 151.9556°E |
| Design period | 1919 - 1930s (interwar period) |
| Built | 1934 - 1982 |
| Architect | William Hodgen |
| Official name: Toowoomba Permanent Building Society (former), Cleary and Lee Solicitors, Toowoomba Permanent Benefit Building and Investment Society | |
| Type | state heritage (built) |
| Designated | 21 October 1992 |
| Reference no. | 600859 |
| Significant period | 1930s (fabric) 1934-1979 (historical use) |
| Significant components | garage, fence/wall - perimeter, strong room |
 Location of Toowoomba Permanent Building Society in Queensland
Location of Toowoomba Permanent Building Society in Queensland
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Toowoomba Permanent Building Society is a heritage-listed former building society at 2 Russell Street, Toowoomba, Toowoomba Region, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by William Hodgen and built from 1934 to 1982. It is also known as Cleary & Lee Solicitors and Toowoomba Permanent Benefit Building and Investment Society. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.
The former Toowoomba Permanent Benefit Building and Investment Society building was designed as a solid and austere edifice of red facing brick. It was constructed in 1934 by contractor WR Smith, at a cost of £4390. The design was by prominent Toowoomba architect, William Hodgen. The building was Hodgen's last major work produced by him before his death in 1943. The building was extended on the western side in 1982.
The Toowoomba Permanent Benefit Building and Investment Society was established in 1875 in offices in Margaret Street. As the business expanded larger accommodation was sought in 1906 in Russell Street. In 1934 a decision was made to build an office on another site in Russell Street and these premises were opened in October 1934. The Toowoomba Permanent Building Society remained in this building until 1979.
The Toowoomba Permanent Building Society was the third permanent building society to be established in 1874, the other two societies being established in Brisbane in July and August. The establishment of a permanent building society had come about following the formation and subsequent closure of a number of terminating societies. Evidence suggests that the first terminating society was formed in Toowoomba late in 1862, on the initiative of William Henry Groom, the first Mayor of Toowoomba. The permanent society differed to the terminating society in that its system accredited interest annually rather that at termination.
Most Australian building societies were larger in size and function than the British societies with a tendency to evolve into building companies, land and mortgage banks or estate companies. They also tended to rely on small overdrafts from the trading banks in times of financial crisis or economic recession. Hence, in Australia, building society interest rates were frequently subject to the prevailing rates set by the banks, and the bank crash of 1893 was even the ruin of a number of dependent societies.
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