Historical information

This photograph shows the Protestant Hall on Nepean Highway Cheltenham, which at the time of the photograph was used by the Returned Sailors' Soldiers' and Aimen's Imperial Leage of Australia (RSSAILA). The building facade, World War I memorials, fire station building and road plantation are also in view.

Significance

The Protestants Hall was built by the Cheltenham Protestant Hall Company Limited in 1886. The hall has been used for a wide variety of purposes; in earlier times it served as the Sunday School for the Methodist Home for Children, and later as a schoolhouse when the Beaumaris School (now Cheltenham State School) No 84 met with overcrowding problems. It was also a popular venue for annual balls and regular dances held by church groups and sporting organisations. The City of Moorabbin purchased the building in the 1920's for use by the Returned Soldiers and Sailors League, in whose hands it remained until the late 1970s when it was taken over by a catering firm. During the 1920s, and right up to the late 1950s, it also served as Cheltenham's picture theatre. The three memorial columns, one from the South African War, one from World War I and one from World War II previously located in front of the hall were relocated when Nepean Highway was widened. The Protestant Hall still stands at 1261 Nepean Highway Cheltenham

Physical description

Black and white digital image depicting three buildings. The right hand building bears a sign that reads RSSAILA. There are trees and a bench seat in the foreground. There is a World War I memorial pictured.