Commonwealth Rehabilitation Centre, Swann Road, Taringa

May 1977 Front-page story of the St Lucia Gazette. c2018 aerial view of the old Rehabilitation complex site (looking south) bounded by Swann Road, Whitmore Street, Seven Oaks Street and private property. [SLHG archive, Google Earth]

Some time ago a bundle of local newspapers was donated to the St Lucia History Group, copies of the The St Lucia Gazette with various dates from 1975 to 1980. Tabloid size, it was prepared and published by the St Lucia Community Association which was established and evolved from the community effort and response to the 1974 Australia Day floods. Christ Church Hall on Central Avenue became the centre for both immediate and longer term flood relief and welfare for the affected residents. It was ‘manned’ by volunteers, not finally closing until October of that year. Active for a number of years the SLCA would eventually go into hibernation, the current iteration formed in 2002 as a response to the uncertainties surrounding the intended function of the BCC proposed UQ/Dutton Park bridge. SLHG had its initial tentative gathering following the first public meeting of the reinvigorated SLCA.

The Gazette, ‘delivered free to all homes in St Lucia, Indooroopilly East and Taringa East’ had a circulation of 4,500 and provided the opportunity for the Association to promote its agenda to a wider section of the public. In addition it included items of local news, community activities and advertising by local businesses which would have supported its publication.

Armed with the rather grainy image of the ‘new multi-storey’ rehabilitation centre on Swann Road, from the front page of its May 1977 issue, pounding the pavement failed to match it with any of the many and various buildings along its length. Subsequent research revealed it had been demolished, the site redeveloped as the Kingshome Apartment Complex. The Swann Road frontage was only part of a larger property occupied by the Commonwealth Rehabilitation Centre which extended down to Seven Oaks Street. Pathology group Sullivan & Nicholaides modified and occupied the existing buildings along this frontage until 2016.

Marchant & Co bottle with wagon wheel trademark. Trademarked label for Kolacene a Kola Nut based drink (without the cocaine of Coke and not quite as snappy a name as Pepsi these two  contemporaries proved more enduring). A timber stopper for the screw top bottle  [Author, National Archives, Museums Victoria]

The site had a previously life, as (in the terms of the day) the original Montrose Home for crippled children. Soft drinks manufacturer and philanthropist George Merchant moved out and donated the use of his home Montrose to the Queensland Society for Crippled Children in 1933. In addition he gifted its contents and his 6 cylinder saloon car to be auctioned to raise funds towards the £10,000 required to equip and furnish it for its new function. The home opened at the end of 1933. In a similar act of generosity he repeated this act three years later, donating his then home Hillcrest at Wilston Heights, plus £8,000 towards operating expenses, to the Central Methodist Mission for use as an aged persons home.

George Marchant arrived in Brisbane in the 1870s, reportedly with 30/- in his pocket, and worked ‘out bush’ before being taken on by a Mr Palmer to work at his ginger beer factory in Elizabeth Street. He eventually took on the business under his own name, opening a new purpose built factory in Bowen Street, Spring Hill in 1888. Three storeys high the second floor was devoted to water storage (rainwater and steam purified ‘Enoggera’ mains water), first floor more water tanks and main cordial preparation, the ground floor bottle washing/storage, brewing and bottling.

Resourceful and innovative the business prospered in a competitive market with factories being opened in Sydney, Newcastle, Melbourne and Adelaide. George protected his reputation as a manufacturer and purveyor of ‘pure’ drinks with the registration and enforcement of Trade Marks, such as the wagon wheel used on his bottles and drink names such as Kolacene and Panpanis, and patents for his state-of-the-art developments.

He introduced his patent thumb-screw bottle in 1901, however, the granting of letters patent for ‘An improved method of brewing and bottling non-intoxicating fermented beverages’, for a period of 14 years, appears to have given him the edge over other manufacturers. The ‘Specification’ accompanying his proposal outlined a new methodology for fermenting the ingredients in concentrate form, heat treating it, and then storing it in sealed containers until required for bottling. Up until this time the process was particularly weather dependent, resulting in lost batches and lack of flexibility to meet demand. At the time the shelf life of aerated waters was limited. It appears he had a couple of goes at his submission, starting in 1897, final approval being granted in April 1898.

Whilst he became a wealthy man he doesn’t seem to have forgotten his own humble beginnings, introducing (a measure) of profit sharing to his workers as early as 1890, and in later years donating his time, energies and money to philanthropic causes. His health faltered in 1919, just as he was about to embark on a trip to Canada and the United States of America. At a farewell meeting of the ‘Strength of Empire Movement’ held in his honour, the President Archibald Watson described him as  “one of those men of whom the world stood in need, a man who spent and was spent in the service of humanity”. He expressed his hope he would come back with renewed health.

Home Secretary Mr Hanlon and George Marchant 1935. Handover of the Deeds to Montrose to the Returned Sailors and Soldiers Imperial League of Australia. Montrose now renamed Kingshome 1938 [All State Library Queensland]

He did, and continued his good works by purchasing Ardoyne at Corinda in 1936 as the new site for the children’s home. It isn’t clear why the move was necessary, perhaps numbers, perhaps the somewhat hilly terrain at Taringa. By the end of 1937 the children’s home had relocated and the keys to Montrose handed back to Mr Marchant. At this point he donated the freehold to the RSSILA together with a cheque for £1,500, to reimburse them for the donation they had made to the children’s home, to part cover improvements they had made to Montrose.

Tenders were called for an extension and some alterations to the residence, the new occupants moving in the following year. With its new name Kingshome it provided a ‘haven of rest for many ex-servicemen in their declining years’. Post war, as demand for accommodation increased, the League considered their options. Following the donation of a property at Caboolture the decision was made to relocate and Montrose put up for sale. It was purchased by the Commonwealth, the Department of Social Services looking to set up a residential rehabilitation centre to replace their existing Perry Park facility. They set about improvements, new buildings and facilities.

Minister Townley chats with polio victim 18 tear old Tony Wrafter at the opening. 1950s finger food of the day [National Archives files]

Athol Townley, the Federal Minister for Social Services in his speech at the ‘formal’ opening of the Kingshome Rehabilitation Centre in 1953, noted that the Commonwealth rehabilitation scheme had its humble beginnings in 1949. Each State capital was allocated £150,000 to purchase surplus army huts, many of which appear to have been used at Taringa. He paid tribute to State Director Mr Burdeu, one of the country’s earliest pioneers in rehabilitation work, and National Director Keith Growcott for steering the nationwide programme.

Initially many of the rehabilitees were young people, and typically those who had been infected during the poliomyelitis outbreak. By 1960 the profile had changed somewhat, with residential  accommodation for 50 men and 17 women only around 20 were adolescents (from age 14). In addition the centre had around 150 participating in day programmes. There were ‘admission’ criteria including that rehabilitation care plans would lead to a return to the workforce. Education was seen as part of the treatment regime, particularly for youngsters whose schooling had been disrupted by illness. Staffing included six trade instructors, two occupational therapists, three physiotherapists, and two resident nursing sisters. Two tutors visited daily and social workers three times a week.

May of that year saw the opening of Queensland’s first hydro-therapy pool at the Centre, this event celebrated with an ‘At Home’, an open day for families and the community. The day included tours of the workshops, demonstration of a mechanised wheelchair, and various PE exercises including the adolescents taking on an assault course. It was emphasised in the speeches that the Centre was neither a hospital nor a convalescent home, but a place where the disabled could be prepared mentally and physically for independent existence through employment.

Perspective and Section drawings from the proposal made to the Parliamentary Works Committee for the new residential accommodation at Taringa (still referred to as Kingshome). (Top) viewed from Swann Road staff quarters on the left, main residential building on the right. The lift core went down to a tunnel which provided level undercover access to the Gymnasium and other buildings along Seven Oaks Street [National Archives files]

Other improvements to the infrastructure and facilities would be undertaken in the 1960s including a new gymnasium fronting Seven Oaks Street, however, perhaps the most significant was in the early 1970s. The decision was taken to replace Montrose, which up to that time had been used as the Centre’s residential accommodation (and showing its age and functional deficiencies), with a purpose built multi-storey building.

The design for the new building had an institutional feel to it, the three upper floors containing the (now) ‘patients’ bedrooms, 26 per floor in a mix of single and double rooms. Bathrooms were communal although each bedroom had a wash handbasin. Fraternisation was discouraged, the men’s (15 beds) and women’s (11 beds) wings had their own lounges and TV rooms, even the lifts and lift lobbies were gender separated. The two lower floors housed the resident’s and staff dining rooms, a commercial kitchen, day lounge, a sick bay, administration areas and the indoor swimming pool. Draft opening speech notes suggest two reminders of Montrose were incorporated into the new visitor lounge, the original cedar front door and a cedar surround and marble fireplace.

A smaller component of the project was the construction of a new staff residence on the corner of Swann Road and Whitmore Street. This took the form of self-contained flats for the senior and staff nurses, housekeeper, assistant manager and one for visiting relatives.

Initially estimated to cost $1.8m, the final figure came in closer to $3.2m caused partly by the original builder going bust, partly arising from the impact of the 1974 flood on resource availability and resulting rise in building costs. This likely did not include the costs for the temporary relocation of the residents and staff. Meeting minutes from 1973 suggest a number of locations were being considered, at the time the Marooma Private Hospital, Windsor looking favourite, it was due to close in June.

Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser, with Medical Director Dr Paul Hopkins, chats with Ray O’Brion at the opening of the new facility in September 1977. 1984 view down Seven Oaks Street, the newly completed three storey Therapeutic and Vocational Assessment Building on the right, the last significant building to be constructed at the Centre [National Archives files]

Aerial images of the site 1958 and c1980 [National Archives files]

At least one other new building would follow, however, by the mid 1980s the Commonwealth’s role in providing hands on disability services would change significantly. The 1985 Department of Community Services ‘New Directions’ study and report recommended an in-community focus rather than the institutional model. The 1986 Disability Services Act provided the funding mechanism to implement the recommendations. The 1970s had seen the development of rehabilitation medicine in Brisbane’s public hospitals, and further rationalisation of Commonwealth/State responsibilities would follow. The concept of case management was introduced.

The Taringa site was added to the disposal list towards the end of 1986. The buildings along the Swann Road frontage were subsequently demolished, and a multi-tower apartment complex constructed, the buildings along Seven Oaks Street adapted for use as a Pathology laboratory.

Andrew Darbyshire – Notes from a presentation to Taringa History Group meeting in August 2020  

[ Dec 2022 – Ephemera from a 1963 visit to the Centre courtesy Dotti K (possibly a table of UQ and local School attendees) ]

[ Steve Trude, December 2023 – After his accident in 1969 Dad went into Taringa for rehab, and I remember some of the metal tool boxes he made. Whilst there he befriended twelve year old Margaret Macauly who was in a wheel chair. He would push her around the complex to cheer her up. He was a Father figure to her, and this also helped him count his blessings despite his injury. Unfortunately she passed away, but before she died she wrote the following about her wheel chair pushing by Dad. ]

THE ZIG ZAG PATH

We climbed the rise by the zig zag path, and wondered why until

We understood the zig zag was made, to break the force of the hill

A road straight up would prove too steep, for traveler’s feet to tread

The thought was kind, in its wise design, of a zig zag path instead

It is often so in our daily life, we fail to understand

The trusting ways our feet must tread, by love alone was planned

Then grumble not the winding way, it is our Fathers will

To lead us home by the zig zag path, to break the force of the hill