Barmera Memorial Hall

With Barmera a growing township it was decided that a hall was needed to be built to accommodate community meetings and gatherings and that hall would be a memorial to comrades killed in the recent war. A block of land was obtained on Barwell Avenue with the RSL sub-branch leading the way with a committee for fundraising. The foundation stone was laid on 6th July, 1929 and the Soldiers’ Memorial Hall was opened later that same year. The building was of freestone with a classical front. The Council and various community groups used the smaller rooms in the building and the main hall was used for picture shows, meetings and dances. When the Bonney Theatre was built next door, the façade of the hall was plastered over to match with the theatre adjacent in an art deco style.

Barmera Soldiers Memorial Hall prior to the construction of the Bonney Theatre photograph most likely taken in the early 1930s

Barmera Soldiers Memorial Hall, with the memorial horse trough in the foreground. The trough was built as a memorial to the Australian War horses in the 1914-18 war, the project initiated by the R.S.L. Reputed to be the only such memorial in Australia and in its original form it served as a much sought after drinking trough for the many ‘blockers’ horses on their trips to the town drawing the family one horse dray.