Chris Sutton Custom Joinery has just completed the replacement of seven heritage windows at the Western Plains Cultural Centre, as part of a major renewal project at the site.
The work followed Dubbo Regional Council commissioning the local firm to supply and install the new windows at the former high school.
These windows are in keeping with the heritage standards for the building and the original windows currently in place. Dubbo Regional Council is doing the refurbishment in stages, as money becomes available.
The work is designed to retain the historical integrity of a facility that has served Dubbo in a range of public capacities from when our first public high school was established there in 1917.
In 1935, in order to cater for the ever-growing number of students from Dubbo and surrounding areas, a decision was made to extend Dubbo High.
One of these extensions was the two-storey brick building facing Gipps Street, that originally housed the science block on the ground floor, the library, and three other classrooms.
It wasn’t until 1965 that a second high school was built, known as South Dubbo High, followed by St John’s College in 1969, Delroy High School in 1981, and Dubbo Christian School in 1986.
By 2001, Dubbo High School was ready to pass the baton to its sister high schools and, in October of that year, Dubbo City Council purchased the site on the corner of Wingewarra and Gipps Streets.
In February 2007, the redeveloped site, now known as the Western Plains Cultural Centre, was opened by the then-NSW Governor, Marie Bashir.
The two-storey building currently known as the Community Arts Centre, hosts Dubbo & District Family History Society, art and ceramic studios, and a variety of workshops and classes for craft and music and much more.
Builder Chris Sutton was actually a student at Dubbo High School and knew the building well. Little did he know when he left school in 1971, that 54 years later, he would return to refurbish and begin to replace these windows.
This month the first of the new windows has been installed on the Gipps Street side of the building. With over 60 windows in this building alone, it will be a slow progression, but a start has been made to keep this building and the building facing Wingewarra Street living examples of a style of architecture that was described by Mr NJ (Bill) Gleeson (Principal from 1965–1973) in Marion Dormer’s book, Dubbo: City on the Plains – 1901–1988 as:
“… a character of its own. There will never be another like it. In the interests of history, it should be preserved, renovating where necessary but maintaining as far as possible the essential nature of the original”.
Chris Sutton Custom Joinery specialises in timber windows and doors, and was ably-assisted with the installation by Nathan Lunn, Ross Graham, and Ray Boden.
Dubbo should be proud of the steps that are being taken to preserve this building – it is a credit to Dubbo Regional Council, the skill of the men who have taken on the job, and the people of Dubbo recognising the importance of keeping and maintaining our history.
Here’s to the next 100 years and the ongoing presence of these buildings in our city!