Location Bendigo, Victoria Completed 1872 Construction started 1871 | Country Australia Opened 1872 Architect Charles Webb | |
Architectural style Second Empire architecture | ||
The Beehive Building, also known as the Sandhurst Mining Exchange, is a building on Pall Mall in Bendigo, a regional city in the Australian state of Victoria. The buildings modern day successor is the Bendigo Stock Exchange. The building was designed by noted architect Charles Webb and contains the former Bendigo Mining Exchange. The Beehive building is an important part of Bendigo's Pall Mall street-scape, which one of the most notable Victorian period street-scapes remaining in Victoria. The Greater Bendigo Council is currently exploring options to return the building to its former glory.
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History
The original Beehive store dates from the 1850s and was established to service Bendigo's booming gold rush economy. The original Beehive was replaced by a single storey building, which itself was replaced by a two storey building in 1864. The original two storey building was similar to the current building in many respects and the first floor contained offices of share brokers that handled the speculative financing of the mining ventures in the Bendigo district.
In August 1871 the Beehive caught fire and was extensively damaged. The present building was completed in 1872, only nine months after construction commenced. The façade and front portion of the Beehive building is three storeys but the majority of the rest of the building is only two.
Accommodation for share brokers was again provided for on the first floor in a structure reminiscent of an arcade surrounding a long central well with balconies. Share trading would take place along these balconies, with traders on the ground floor, sometimes overflowing onto the street. In the 1880s a busy day on the exchange could see 2,000 stock traders working in the building and up to 5,000 share holders would gather to monitor their stocks.
The original traders offices survive in a good state of preservation, but are not currently open to the public. The central well has been filled to create Allan's Walk, which connects Pall Mall and Hargreaves Mall. Also preserved is the central pitched glass roof and ornamental iron work, broadly comparable with Charles Webb's treatment of the Royal Arcade in Melbourne.
The Beehive building and the Mining Exchange within is an important part of Bendigo's Gold Rush heritage. The Mining Exchange was one of only two regional mining exchanges in Australia as well as being the oldest known purpose built exchange in the country.
Future
In 1999 the City of Greater Bendigo purchased the building with the assistance of the Victorian State Government for the sum of $3,360,000 at auction, a further $1,000,000 has been spent on repairs. The repair work was undertaken with the intention of getting the building ready for a commercial purchaser to acquire the building and undertake commercial renovation and return it to use.
In 2015 the City of Greater Bendigo sold the building for an undisclosed sum, though reportedly less than the price paid by Council, to the development company 'Pall Mall Nominees'. The company plans to develop the space with a focus on local produce and products. The architect for the project is Peter Williams of "Williams Boag Architects".
In May 2016 it was reported that the building's ground floor will be open by the end of year and will contain a number of retail shops.
The Beehive Building is included in the Victorian Heritage Register (item number H0686).