Summary
Black & white photograph showing a portion of the former Aquarium's water tanks, found during excavation work under the floor of the Stadium Annexe, following its demolition in 1972. The tanks were used to supply salt water for the Aquarium's seal enclosure, between 1895 and 1953, when the Aquarium was destroyed in a fire.
Previously, the Stadium Annexe had stood on this site since 1956. It was demolished in 1972 in preparation for a series of new developments at the eastern end of the Exhibition Buildings, including the new Eastern Annexe and later, Centennial Hall.
This is one of 959 photographs (or images) of the Exhibition Building collated by the Exhibition Trustees as a 10 volume pictorial history of the Exhibition Building spanning the years 1880 to 1985. The pictorial history was instigated by the centenary of the Exhibition Building in 1980 and forms part of a larger Royal Exhibition Building collection of documents, photographs, objects and research files.
Description of Content
Section of arched, bricked ceiling of the former salt water tanks from the Aquarium, found underneath the Statium Annexe during demolition and excavation, circa 1973. A pipe extends down from the ceiling of the tank, while steel reinforcing lines the wall of a trench being dug as part of the construction of a service tunnel.
Physical Description
A black & white silver gelatin print on a page of a photograph album. There is a printed caption below the photograph.
Significance
The Exhibition Trustees' album containing this photograph provides an invaluable visual record of past maintenance and restoration work undertaken on the Royal Exhibition Buildings prior to the building being recognised with a World Heritage Listing in 2004.
More Information
-
Collection Names
-
Collecting Areas
Public Life & Institutions, Images & Image Making, Royal Exhibition Building
-
Acquisition Information
Transfer from Trustees of the Royal Exhibition Building (REB), Jan 2000
-
Place & Date Depicted
Royal Exhibition Building (REB), Melbourne, Greater Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, circa 1973
-
Format
Photograph, Black & White
-
Inscriptions
Printed below photograph: Aquarium Water Tanks excavated under Stadium/ Annexe floor. Tanks were filled with salt water for seals/ during period of aquarium (1895-1953).
-
Classification
Royal exhibition building, Building & infrastructure, Stadium annexe
-
Category
-
Discipline
-
Type of item
-
Image Dimensions - Photograph
248 mm (Width), 160 mm (Height)
-
Keywords
Aquariums, Buildings, Construction, Construction Works, Exhibitions: Melbourne International, 1880-1881, Royal Exhibition Building, Royal Exhibition Building Trustees, Royal Exhibition Building: History of Events, 1970-1979, Water Tanks