Wakefield Street

Wakefield Street is a main thoroughfare intersecting the centre of the South Australian capital, Adelaide, from east to west at its midpoint. It crosses Victoria Square in the centre of the city, which has a grid street plan. It continues as Wakefield Road on its eastern side, through the eastern Adelaide Park Lands.

Wakefield Street

South Australia
The Metropolitan Fire Station was built in 1983
Wakefield Street is located in City of Adelaide
West end
West end
East end
East end
Coordinates
General information
TypeStreet
LocationAdelaide city centre
Length1.2 km (0.7 mi)[1]
Opened1837
Major junctions
West endVictoria Square
Adelaide
 
East endEast Terrace
Adelaide
Location(s)
LGA(s)City of Adelaide

History

The street was named after Daniel Bell Wakefield, the solicitor who drafted the Act which proclaimed Adelaide. Like his brother Edward Gibbon Wakefield, he was also involved in the South Australia Association in London, but never visited Adelaide.[2]

In 1911 the Willard Hall and Willard Guest House were opened by the South Australian branch of the WCTU, named after Frances Willard, United States national president of Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU).[3] The building, previously St Andrew's Presbyterian Church, was situated on the south side of the road, 2.75 yards (2.51 m) west of the east side of Gawler Place. In 1928 an old bell was found in the tower, which was probably the first bell cast in Adelaide and made for the church.[4] A 1939 photograph shows the new art deco additions to the building, and the premises of Frank J. Siebert, Funeral Director, on the left.[5]

The Star Theatre in Wakefield Street, Adelaide, c.1939

The Central Picture Theatre, designed by R. R. G. (Rowland) Assheton (who also designed the Grand Picture Theatre in Rundle Street, among others)[6] opened at no. 70 in 1912, featuring silent films until its first talkie screened in 1930. On Saturday 14 May 1938, after a change of ownership and complete refurbishment,[7] the cinema was opened as the Star, as part of the Clifford Theatres Circuit (and variously referred to as the New Star Theatre, Wakefield Street;[8] Wakefield Street New Star;[9] and the Wakefield Street Star Theatre.[10]). One reviewer described it as "the most modern theatre in S.A.". Architect Chris Smith had designed the new interior, and furnishings were supplied by John Martin & Co.[11] The refit was in Art Deco style.[12] The Star closed around 1959 or 1960 and reopened in 1962/63 as a Greek theatre, the Pantheon. It was demolished (date unknown)[7] and is now the site of a carpark next to an office block tenanted by SAPOL. The building was constructed around 1980, with its address no. 60.[13][7]

Wakefield Hotel, Adelaide, c.1926

The cinema was situated adjacent to the Wakefield Hotel on its western side.[14] The hotel had existed on this site, on the corner of Divett Place,[15] since 1864,[16] and the stone building stands at no. 76.[17] In 1927 its licensees were M.G. Henderson and V. Kenny. It is a stone building with cream brick decoration.[16]

The first training hospital for nurses in the colony and then state, Private Hospital, Wakefield Street, occupied various sites between Daly and Hutt Street from 1883 to 1884[18][19] until January 2020, when the new Calvary Adelaide Hospital opened on Angas Street.[20][21]

The Unitarian Christian Church which once stood opposite Francis Xavier's Cathedral was sold to the Public Service Association in 1971.[22] It was replaced with a government building known as the "Wakefield House", a 20-storey building in brutalist style completed in 1980.[23]

Location and description

It runs in from east to west between East Terrace and Victoria Square, and is one of the three streets (along with Grote Street and King William Street) to run through Victoria Square in the middle of the Adelaide city centre. The same three streets are also the widest streets in the city centre, at 2 chains (130 ft; 40 m) wide (refer to Adelaide city centre#Layout). The western end of Wakefield Street is continued across Victoria Square as Grote Street, which extends to West Terrace. The eastern end of Wakefield Street continues as Wakefield Road across the Adelaide Park Lands to Britannia Roundabout on the City Ring Route, Adelaide. Wakefield Road continues on the eastern side of the roundabout as Kensington Road.

Notable buildings

Buildings on Wakefield Street include (more or less west to east):

Junction list
Locationkm[1]miDestinationsNotes
Adelaide city centre00.0Victoria Square, King William StreetContinues as Grote Street
0.20.12Gawler Place
0.550.34Pulteney Street
0.750.47Frome Street
1.10.68Hutt Street
1.20.75East Terrace
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

See also

icon Australian roads portal

References
  1. Google (1 June 2022). "Wakefield Street" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  2. "Nomenclature of the Streets of Adelaide and North Adelaide" (PDF). State Library of South Australia. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
  3. "Women's Christian Temperance Union". Adelaidia. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
  4. "Wakefield Street, Adelaide [B 6904]: Photograph". State Library of South Australia. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
  5. "Wakefield Street, Adelaide [B 7386]: Photograph". State Library of South Australia. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
  6. "Personal". The Mail (Adelaide). Vol. 5, no. 239. South Australia. 16 December 1916. p. 6. Retrieved 30 December 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. "Central / Star / Pantheon, Adelaide". Cinema and Audience Research Project (CAARP). Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  8. "Star Programmes". The Advertiser (Adelaide). South Australia. 30 May 1938. p. 16. Retrieved 15 December 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. "Star Programmes". The Advertiser (Adelaide). South Australia. 11 July 1938. p. 20. Retrieved 15 December 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  10. "Star Programmes". The Advertiser (Adelaide). South Australia. 18 July 1938. p. 23. Retrieved 15 December 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  11. "Advent of a New Star in Adelaide". West Coast Recorder. Vol. 32, no. 2105. South Australia. 19 May 1938. p. 4. Retrieved 13 December 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  12. "Wakefield Street, Adelaide" (photo + text). State Library of South Australia. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  13. Pallisco, Marc (4 November 2020). "Charter Hall pays $51m for neighbouring Adelaide offices". Savills. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  14. "Wakefield Street, Adelaide" (photo + text). State Library of South Australia. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
  15. "Wakefield Street [B 3276]" (photo + text). State Library of South Australia. 9 February 1926. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  16. "Wakefield Street [B 4165]" (photo + text). State Library of South Australia. 1927. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  17. "Home". Wakefield Hotel. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  18. Nursing in South Australia: First Hundred Years 1837-1937. Adelaide: South Australian Trained Nurses’ Centenary Committee. February 1938.
  19. Lyon (May 1977). "Short history of PHWS (Private Hospital, Wakefield Street) First= E. E.". The Australasian Nurses Journal. 6 (10): 18. ISSN 0301-018X.
  20. Starick, Paul (28 May 2016). "Mega private hospital works to create 500 jobs". adelaidenow (Sunday Mail). Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  21. "About and Executive team at Calvary Adelaide Hospital". Calvary Adelaide Hospital. 29 March 2021. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  22. State Library of South Australia. Unitarian Church of South Australia (PDF). SRG 122 Series List. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  23. "Wakefield House". Emporis. Archived from the original on 17 June 2020. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
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