HISTORY
A NNAND THE AT R E
From Humble Beginnings Mr Ross Cardiff
Chief Financial Officer
T
he initial school theatre was borne from very humble beginnings. The gathering place of the school was originally a truck maintenance depot, built in World War II by the visiting American Army when they established a military base on the school grounds. From time to time over the forthcoming years, the ‘depot’ was added to, so the school’s needs were met for House plays, parents’ meetings, new student and parent orientation and the school’s drama performances. In February 1991 it was officially decided to design and construct a new theatre which would include all the modern facilities needed for The Southport School. The Annand Theatre was opened in August 1993. Following a tradition of the Southport School, the theatre was named after Rhodes Scholar Peter Geoffrey Grant Annand, who attended the school from 1959-1966. The School’s history records, aptly named ‘Bearing the Palm’ states of Annand: ‘He was a remarkable student. As a member of the Preparatory School in 1962 he won the Halse Medal for the top student in the state scholarship examination in Anglican schools. He won the school’s McNeile Memorial Medal in 1964. In 1966 he won the Lewis Cup as dux of the school and the Chelmsford Cup and was senior prefect. During the senior public examination he won an open scholarship to Queensland University and entered St John’s College at that university the following year. He graduated BA with first class honours in 1970 and was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship
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Band of Brothers
in 1971. He attended Magdalen College at Oxford University where he was awarded the degree of Bachelor of Civil Law with second class honours in 1973. He later became a director of Schroders Australia, merchant bankers, being the Queensland manager for that bank.’ Over the last decade, the 744-seat building struggled with the population of the Senior Campus at assemblies, Speech Day and especially Graduation. This was particularly apparent when Year 7 classes moved from the Primary campus to join the Senior School in 2013. The consultation process of building on campus is an extensive and lengthy one. Many avenues were explored such as renovating the existing building by adding on ‘wings’ to incorporate more seating, utilising an existing structure on campus for events such as the Centenary Centre and then ultimately demolition and rebuilding a purpose-built structure.. As the project gained momentum it was the vision of then Headmaster, Mr Greg Wain, who “wanted the ability to see everyone in the audience while on stage”. This statement dictated the scale and design of the final building, incorporating seating tiers that swept up from the stage allowing each seat to be ‘seen’. Another key driver of the theatre project was the underlying need to have this area as a gathering space, a dedicated zone of the school for events and meetings. After much discussion Music was brought into the ground floor of the new building, as this space was large enough to accommodate the department’s needs now and far into the future.
