The Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995), Saturday 14 July 1990, page 19

National Library of Australia http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article122297288

MAGAZINE

Archival encounters of a kind

National Film and Sound

Archive

Management and staff are

quite matter-of-fact aboutit:

there are ghosts abroad in the

National Film and Sound Archivebuilding.

Not once or twice but many times havethey made their presence

felt as staffers

have gone about their business, particular

ly late at night.

The most common phenomenonis two

women talking in one of the basement

corridors. Their words are unclear, but the

fact that a conversation is taking place is

beyond doubt.

"They've been heard plenty of times,"

said Dr Jeff Brownrigg, head of the Ar

chive's research and information division.

"Usually they're in the killing-room corri

dor near the rejuvenation bath." (Such

terms will be explained in due course.)

: Dr Brownrigg: "Experiences of this kind

Robert Macklin concludes his series on

Canberra's 10 best buildings with

tales from a haunted corridor,

hallowed walls and the seat of power.

are so common we've thought ofdeveloping a regular ghost tour through the build

ing. We mightstill do it

— once a year on

Halloween."

Dr Brownrigg's own experience with

ghosts is perhaps the most striking of all.

"And 1am not a believer. I do not believe

in ghosts," he said. Yet early last year he

had been working late. "You can't help

yourself," he said. "It's not a nine-to-five

job. There's a level of commitment whichreally keeps you at

it.

"I was probably over-tired; that's the

only rational explanation Ican give."

For as he rounded a corner heading

through the foyer toward the front door,

suddenly he was confronted by a crowd of

men, all in winged collars like visitors fromthe turn of the century. Some ofthem were

wearing bowlers hats.

"My first thought was, 'How the dickens

amI going to get through them to go

home?' I wasn't alarmed, just surprised.

"You see, the building is quite benign;

there's no sense ofthreat."

So how did he get through the milling

crowd?"Actually, I stepped back behind the

corner for a moment and when I returned

they were gone. But itwas very powerful. I

believe what I saw."

As most Canberrans know, the National

Film and Sound Archive, selected as one ofour Top Ten Buildings, was formerly theInstitute of Anatomy, once the home of

Phar Lap's heart. What is less well knownis that it is probably Australia's finest ex

ample ofArt Deco architecture extant.

Such, at least, is the view ofthe Heritage

Commission.Built between 1929 and 1931, it

arose

Built between 1929 and 1931, itarose

from a gift to the nation by Sir Colin

MacKenzie of his comparative anatomycollection. Sir Colin also contributed to the

building and the nearby residence where

he lived as the institute's founding direc

tor.

The residence is now used as the corporate-services headquarters of the archive,

though the archive's director, Graham Gil

mour, would dearly love to re-institute the

practice ofon-site living.

"I don't expect this to happen in mytenure," said Mr Gilmour. "We are so

overcrowded it just isn't practical at this

stage."

In fact, more than halfthe archive's staff

are housed in portable offices in the

grounds while approval is sought from

Cabinet for an extension to the main build

ing. But this, too, is unlikely to occur

quickly — the proposal has been before

Cabinet at Budget time every year since

1985 but so far without result. Sir Colin

and his cohorts would never have stood for

such shilly-shallying.

This indeed might explain some of the

ghostly activity within the old building's

ghostly activity within the old building's

confines. Sir Colin retains a presence there:

his ashes are gathered in a container be

hind a commemorative plaque in the foy

er. And what's more, two of the six facial

representations of eminent anatomists —

also on the walls of the foyer — are taken

from death masks.

Perhaps the sprites of the two men, Drs

Hunter and Simpson, find their way to the

killing room in the basement. This was the

area where between 1931 and 1980 manythousands of animals — and not a few

human bodies — were carved into their

constituent elements for purposes ofstudy.

In a lovely irony, it now houses the

rejuvenation bath, a highly sophisticated

machine which transfers and enhances oldnitrate film to modern stock that will last

indefinitely. The processis a piquant met

aphor one ghostly image makes another;

the illusion finds a new reality.

St John's Anglican

Church, Reid

STJOHN'S has its own ghosts, both

holy and profane. Indeed, much of a

certain stream of Canberra history is

contained in its grounds and uponits

walls.

The graveyard, ghostly at evening, bears

the bones of many of the city's pioneeringfamilies. But within the church the memo

rial plaques tell their own story.

Here are a few of special interest:

To the Glory of God and in loving

memory of Edward Kendall Grace late of

Gungahleen, Ginninderra — born April

10th, 1844, was drowned in crossing the

Ginninderra Creek, September 20,1892.

Inmemory of George Campbell, of

Duntroon, fourth son of Robert CampbellEsq., of Sydney, who died in London, the

5th October, 1881 aged 63 years, and of

his eldest daughter, Sophia Susannawho died 31st May, 1885 aged 27 years.

An addendum follows:

Robert George, born 30th March, 1871,died 9th April.

ARDWS AD SOLEM1879-1929

Walter Geoffrey Duffield, Founder of the

Commonwealth Solar Observatory, MtStromlo, and Pioneer Director

1924-1929.Gloria in Excelsis Deo

Walter Augustus Gale — 27th July, 1927Clerk of the House of Representatives

John Robert McGregorm — 28thSeptember, 1927 Clerk of the House of

Representatives

This table is a tribute of affectionate

remembrance from Officers of theParliament of the Commonwealth.

Then there's the plaque to James Aber

nathy, Canberra's first schoolmaster, who

reigned supreme for so many years at the

parish school that is preserved just outside

the church grounds. The tribute to him is

simple. It commemorates his birth in 1830and his death in 1920.

But perhaps the real sadness is in theline below. It reads:

His wife, Eliza — 1863-1880."

However, the commemoration whichsums up perfectly the place which St

John's occupies in the social and spiritual

life of Canberra is of more recent date.

Thus:

To the Glory of God and In affectionate

memory of Col. Arthur Graham Butler,

A.A.M.C., DSO, V.D.M.B., C.H.B., BA,

A.A.M.C., DSO, V.D.M.B., C.H.B., BA,

who departed this lifeon the 27th Feb,

1949 aged 76 years:

A practical Christian, a gallant soldier, a

soldier, a national war historian, a kindly

physician, a man loved by all. He fought

the good fight, He finished the course.

He kept the faith. Erected by his returnedservicemen comrades in the ACT.

Finally, there is the following message in

this week's edition of the parish newsletter:

AFFIRMATIVE ACTION IN

THE PARISH CENTRE

Mrs Betty Osborne, convener of the

Parish Centre cleaning roster, points

out that there are immediate vacancies

on the roster and she adds: "'With a bit

of imagination one can claim to be

doing God'§ work in this place, so thereis no need to fee) a second-classcitizen."

Parliament House

INSIDE, Parliament House can be over

whelming. This is particularly so in thenon-public areas such as the,basement,

from whence the entire building is run.

For example, it's here that we find the

centre beverage facility that pipes liquorinto bar outlets all over the building.

Then there's the main control room,which maintains and regulates every elec

tronic aspect of the place, from the 2500clocks to the 500 additional sets ofdivisionlights, to the 12,000 speakers that bring the

immortal words of our parliamentarians tothe eager listeners throughout the building's 4500 rooms.

There's the kitchen, which can produce8000 meals a day; the telecommunications

system with the capacity to service a moderate-sized town; the "train line" in theceiling, which transports documents to all

parts ofthe building over 22km oftrack.

There's the enormous concrete "bunker" beneath the ministerial wing, whichcould be turned into an underground nu

clear shelter if the occasion so warranted.(But, no, there is no underground tunnel to

the Lodge.)

But perhaps the most significant ele

ment of the building is the Members' Hall

at its centre.

For itwas Walter Burley Griffin's ori

ginal plan to have only a small monument

to the people on Capital Hill — Parliament

House would be lower down on Cap Hill

for, in his view, no legislative assemblyshould overlook the people who must be

seen to be supreme.And the Members' Hall has been dug

into the hill directly below the place whereGriffin wanted the small monument.

In deference to his intentions, the building's designer, Aldo Giurgola, has placedthe flagpole — symbolising the people of

Australia — directly above the Members'Hall.

But the symbolism goes further. Griffin's conception was for avenues to radiate

fin's conception was for avenues to radiate

from this symbolic centre of Australia,

commemorating the state capitals andpointing in their general direction.

Well, it nearly worked: Melbourne Ave

nue points toward the Queen City of the

.

south, Brisbane Avenue is nicely aligned,

as are Hobart and Adelaide.

But such is the Australian way — so

typical ofthe charm ofCanberra's best-laid

architectural plans — that somewhere

along the line Perth and Darwin avenues• became back streets, and prizes can beoffered to anyone who can actually find

Sydney Avenue.It does exist — in theory at least — but

I'm sure Mr Griflin envisaged itas rather

different from a 50-metre dead end.