School of Arts, Cairns (former)

Visit the new Cairns Museum within the 1907 School of Arts building on the corner of Shields and Lake Streets. The museum showcases the history of the Cairns district within the School of Arts and a new adjoining purpose-built structure. While a School of Arts was established here in a small timber building in 1885; by the early 1900s the organisation was in need of larger premises. A design competition was conducted for a two-storeyed building with the School of Arts library on the first floor, and shops on the ground floor. When no affordable designs were forthcoming, architects Tunbridge and Lynch were commissioned to design the building. Hanson and Sons won the building contract with a price of £2170. The new building was opened on 5 December 1907. Tenants in the shops included an architect, a dentist, a fruit shop, Mrs Walsh's Emporium and Mr Walsh's timber brokerage. Extensions were undertaken in 1932 and 1940, with the library transferred to the City Council in 1977. The Cairns Historical Society Museum occupied the building from 1980 until 2015, when it closed for refurbishment and construction of the new museum adjacent. The museum reopened in mid-2017.