Building of the Church Edifice
Land was purchased in July 1928 for the building of a church edifice at 67-69 Brisbane Street, Hobart. A special meeting of members on 15 August 1928 adopted building plans for the new edifice and the Trustees were empowered to borrow the necessary capital, prepare specifications and call for building tenders. The architect was Bernard Ridley Walker.
On 3 October 1928 the tender of Messrs. Lane and Allen was accepted and work was commenced.
The Foundation Stone located in the front foyer of the church was laid on 12 December 1928 and on 17 March 1929 the first service was conducted in the new building. The Sunday School was then held in the afternoons.
In April 1933 it was decided to complete the church building with an extension at the rear to provide an area for the Sunday School. This was completed in August and the Sunday School was thereafter conducted in the mornings at the same time as the church service.
In February 1939 the loan for the building of the church was discharged and the Church Dedication service was held on 9 July 1939.
Location of the Reading Room
In February 1925 a city centre Reading Room was established in a rented room at 112 Liverpool Street. A few months later, on 4 June 1925, the Reading Room was moved to the 2nd floor of the National Mutual Building in Macquarie Street.
In 1935 the Reading Room was relocated from the National Mutual Building to the new Sunday School where it was conducted until May 1939. A new central city location was found at the CML Building on the corner of Macquarie and Elizabeth Streets and the Reading Room transferred to Room 410 in July 1939.
In 1956 the Reading Room was moved to 117 Liverpool Street and in 1963 it was moved to the second floor of Richardson’s Building at 86 Murray Street.
In 1997 the Reading Room was located in the church building.
In 2000 a property at 131 Elizabeth Street was purchased. This remains the current location of the Reading Room in Hobart.
Reproduced with kind permission of David Cooper from his book
“The History of Christian Science in Tasmania” published in 2007.