3.1 The Public Buildings

Churches

The prominent public buildings of most towns generally flank churches and Frankston is no exception although as many locals complained, churches in Frankston were built without halls or meeting rooms so they became less often community centres. The first Church of England building was opened for worship in Frankston in 1885. Another St Paul's rose above the beach and the commercial heart of Frankston and was a focal point from its construction, in 1933, until the 1950s. In 1957 St Paul's was gutted by fire.1 Part of the chapel survived and the parish decided to rebuild the church approving Louis Williams and J. Smith as architects in 1958.2 The builders were S.W. and J. Gardener. In February 1959 the building once again suffered fire damage but in November 1959, St Paul's "a blending of old and new" was opened. The building was even more of a local landmark than before with its seventy foot tower and Napier Waller stained glass.3 Other churches of the period also made a feature of stained glass, St Francis Xavier Catholic church on the Hastings Road for example; however none had the imposing siting of St Paul's.4

St Paul's won an important place in local life through its pre-school centre. Mrs Earl Morer began a Children's Craft Centre at St Paul's in 1946 which soon had more than 500 children enrolled. The classes expanded to include puppet theatre, clay modelling and basket weaving in the church hall and a library of 1400 books (so popular was the library that many children told visitor that they wanted to become librarians when they grew up). These classes later expanded to the pavilion at the Frankston Park.

Amongst other local churches, St Francis Xavier stands out for its architectural qualities rather than for any long-term role in local life. The first Frankston Catholic Church was blessed by Archbishop Carr in 1889 and was enlarged in 1928. Although Frankston had few Catholics in the nineteenth century, summer holiday makers went to mass at St Francis Xavier and regular summer picnics were held for Melbourne's Catholic community at Frankston [indeed Archbishop Daniel Mannix chose the annual Frankston picnic to deliver one of his most stinging anti-government attacks after the First World War].

As the suburb expanded after the Second World War, Frankston Catholics raised money for a new church which was completed in 1954. Other local religious groups were involved in the church-building of the 1950s, the Presbyterians for example. They chose Louis Williams [the man who designed St. Paul's, Frankston] as their architect. The foundation stone of St Andrew's Presbyterian Church was laid on 22 March, 1958.