| Source: |
Go to the Register of the National Estate for more information. |
| Identifier: |
180 |
| Location: |
48 Todd St, Alice Springs |
Local
Government: |
Alice Springs Municipality |
| State: |
NT |
| Country: |
Australia |
Statement of
Significance: |
Adelaide house is significant for its association with Rev. John Flynn and the Australian Inland Mission, and for its being the first hospital in Central Australia. The building is of architectural significance in demonstrating early formal architectural efforts to introduce passive air-conditioning into Central Australian buildings, and because it is one of the few remaining buildings of the period in central Alice Springs. |
| Description: |
Conceived by Flynn, Adelaide house was completed in 1926 and, staffed by sisters of the Australian inland Mission, it operated as a hospital until 1939. It was then used as a hostel and during the Second World War was used for military purposes. After 1945 it again functioned as a hospital. From 1961 to 1980 the building served various church purposes and in 1980 was declared a museum. The building is a two-storey structure with a timber frame, stone walls at the ground floor and a timber-clad first floor. The whole ground floor is surrounded by an enclosed verandah. Beneath the house is a cellar and tunnels which drew air into the building, cooling it as it passed through wet hessian. Included in the site is a stone shed, the site of Flynn and Alf Traeger's first radio transmission (representing the beginning of the mission's use of radio communication in the Northern Territory). |
