Treasury Building…Brisbane

Now accommodation for the Casino…

Planning for the first stage of the Treasury Building, which fronted William Street and the Brisbane River and was completed by the middle of 1885, and the site prepared. Tenders were called in April 1886, and Sydney builders Phippard Bros & Co. were successful with a price of £94,697/10/- and completed this section in 1889.

This was the new centre of government administration in Queensland was occupied by the Premier, Colonial Secretary, Registrar-General, Treasury, Mines, Works, Police and Auditor-General. It was home to the Cabinet and frequently to the Executive Council from late 1889 to 1905. To protect the valuable records, the Registrar-General’s office was fire proofed.

After 40 years after its completion, the exterior needed cleaning and restoration. Restoration work included marble steps to the main Queen Street entrance and repairs to the stonework and re-pointing. Demand for further accommodation In the 1950s, led to the construction in 1961 of a five-storeyed annex in the courtyard.

The Treasury Building became outmoded as suitable office accommodation and in 1971 the Treasury and Works Departments moved to the new Executive Building at 100 George Street. A Government proposal in the 1990s to convert the building into a Casino met with some objection. Conversion of this magnificent building into the Brisbane casino has ensured that Clarke’s creation and Brisbane’s most imposing building has been saved for posterity without the need to spend Government money on its restoration.

During the building boom of 1885, the former convict Officers’ Quarters and Military Barracks was selected the site of the new Treasury Building. The military moved from the existing buildings and they were occupied by the Registrar-General, Treasury and Engineer of Harbours in 1864. The Registrar-General’s single-storeyed building was erected on the corner of George and Queen Streets In 1874.

http://www.brisbanehistory.com/treasury_building.html