Our History
The Gumeracha Institute and Library began as a rock and pug abandoned former store with two rooms, this pioneer settler building on the Lobethal road existed roughly at the same height above the town as the church cemetery and used wooden boxes as shelving.
Our Story: Since 1909
A first hall was opened in 1864 in Murray Street measuring approximately 12m long and 6m wide with a platform at one end, with two rooms at the back occupied by the Talunga District Council. A vestibule of two rooms was added to provide a front entrance with the two rooms built with a government grant.
From the 1890s it was considered too small and from 1907 moves began to seek land for a new hall. Land was sought and purchased alongside the leased oval and recreational ground.
A central location was essential to the success of the town hall as it was also the institute and offered a range of civil and community activities. These included celebrations, weddings, engagements, parties, anniversaries, concerts, social events and funeral gatherings.
In 1917 the recreational ground and oval were purchased and the Gumeracha Institute became the trustee owner. In 1927 the creek and parkland were purchased and added to the institute making it the largest land owning institute in Australia.
The Talunga District Council operated from office rooms located on Murray Street and transferred to the new town hall because of its size and practicality, as did its successor the Gumeracha District Council until it moved to new premises on the corner of Victoria Street and Albert Street in Gumeracha.
From the 1890s it was considered too small and from 1907 moves began to seek land for a new hall. Land was sought and purchased alongside the leased oval and recreational ground.
A central location was essential to the success of the town hall as it was also the institute and offered a range of civil and community activities. These included celebrations, weddings, engagements, parties, anniversaries, concerts, social events and funeral gatherings.
In 1917 the recreational ground and oval were purchased and the Gumeracha Institute became the trustee owner. In 1927 the creek and parkland were purchased and added to the institute making it the largest land owning institute in Australia.
The Talunga District Council operated from office rooms located on Murray Street and transferred to the new town hall because of its size and practicality, as did its successor the Gumeracha District Council until it moved to new premises on the corner of Victoria Street and Albert Street in Gumeracha.
In the 1970s the trusteeship property deeds and ownership were transferred to the District Council of Gumeracha with incorporated committees managing the hall, sporting facilities and the RSL.
In the mid-1990s discussion of the amalgamation which came to fruition with the eventual formation of the Adelaide Hills Council in1997, was a combination of the Gumeracha, East Adelaide, Onkaparinga and Stirling councils.
By 1996 it was proposed by the Lions Club of Torrens Valley that the hall be remodelled and returned to a similar design to the 1909.
In 2000 the Lions Club appealed to the Adelaide Hills Council to build a modern library facility alongside the Gumeracha town hall as they had not had a proper facility and had shifted between the abandoned pug and stone building of 1884 which used to hold the hall, then in an annex room and after that a suite in the council chambers on the corner of Murray Street and Albert Street.