Swinburne Junior Technical School opened within the Technical College in 1913. A Girls School was added in 1916, and both were accommodated in various buildings in the Burwood Road/William Street precinct in the years that followed. In 1969, there was a formal separation of the secondary school from the tertiary College of Technology, and the 12-17 year old boys and girls were located solely at 505 Burwood Road. Surging enrolments led to the acquisition of land on Camberwell Road where a junior campus was built in the late 1970s. However, enrolments declined markedly thereafter, and the Camberwell Road campus was closed at the end of 1992. Although the Burwood Road campus survived as Swinburne Senior Secondary College from 1993, this was a new entity. Therefore, Swinburne Technical School can be considered closed. The Camberwell Road site was sold, to make way for the Rivoli Gardens apartments. Fortunately, the school gymnasium was retained as part of Swinburne Senior Secondary College.
Then
Now
Furthermore
The images are from different Swinburne locations: the original College on the railway line, and the Rivoli Gardens apartments on Camberwell Road. Swinburne Senior Secondary College occupies yet another location, on Burwood Road. Taken together, they show how ‘Swinburne’ is a multi-layered education precinct.
Links
Swinburne Community Activity Centre – public Facebook group, for what was once the school gymnasium
Swinburne University of Technology – history