page_title: St Paul's Young Men's Club, Ipswich
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: St Paul's Young Men's Club, Ipswich / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Indian club swinging team, St Paul's Young Men's Club, Ipswich, 1890s
context_page_description: St Paul's Young Men's Club is a heritage-listed former clubhouse and now art gallery at 48 d'Arcy Doyle Place, Ipswich, City of Ipswich, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by George Brockwell Gill and built in 1911. It is also known as Ipswich Regional Art Gallery and St Paul's Young Men's Society Hall. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.
context_section_description: St Paul's Young Men's Club is a two-level brick building constructed in 1911 as meeting rooms for St Paul's Young Men's Society. The architect was George Brockwell Gill.
  The construction of a building for the Society was first proposed in 1907 and in September of that year, Lady Chelmsford, wife of the Governor of Queensland, visited Ipswich to open a bazaar to begin fundraising. Plans were prepared by architect George Brockwell Gill in late 1908 and tenders were called, but the lowest tender of £1030 was beyond the Society's capacity. Further fundraising was undertaken and the foundation stone ceremony was finally carried out on Saturday 11 March 1911 by Justice Charles E. Chubb. The building was opened in December 1911 by Archdeacon Arthur Rivers.
  The Society's aims were to promote spiritual, intellectual and physical development and the building included a reading room, gymnasium, bath room, billiard room and piano, all for "wholesome exercises for body and mind". The Society's activities included sport, impromptu speeches and mock parliamentary debates.
  During World War I, a Soldiers' Rest Room was proposed for Ipswich and the St Paul's Young Men's Society offered their hall. A patriotic committee composed mainly of local women obtained additional furniture for the hall and also ran the rest room.
  In 1938, Ipswich City Council decided to buy the building. The city's need for a new Town Hall and additional Council offices was a recurrent issue in Ipswich over many years and the purchase of the hall was part of a compromise solution. Petitions against the proposal were received but the purchase went ahead in 1939 and the building was used to accommodate Council engineering staff. The glass bricks on the western wall might date from this period but this is uncertain; they were in place by at least the early 1960s.
  In 1975, the city library was moved into the building and about the same time, the external brickwork was painted cream to match the new Civic Hall opposite. In the 1980s, the Library was relocated and the building was renovated as Ipswich Regional Art Gallery. Internal modifications included sheeting across windows to provide more hanging space.
  At some time, date uncertain, a clerestory or roof vent appears to have been removed. This is suggested by the geometry of timber supports in the ceiling structure.
caption: Indian club swinging team, St Paul's Young Men's Club, Ipswich, 1890s
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