W D Moore & Co Warehouse

WD Moore & Co Warehouse complex is on Henry Street, Fremantle. It was unified in 1899 behind an ornamental stucco facade.^[1] A store was established on the site by Samuel Moore in the 1840s. William Dalgety Moore later established a general merchant business there in 1862. The complex comprises a residence, warehouse, factory stable, offices and shop, built between 1862 and 1899, in addition to a three-storey backstore which was built at an unknown date, possibly as early as 1844.^[1] The complex was listed on the Register of the National Estate in 1978.^[2]

WD Moore & Co Warehouse
Alternative names	The Moores Building, The Moores Building Contemporary Art Gallery
General information
Address	42-46 Henry Street
Town or city	Fremantle
Coordinates	32°3′22.86″S 115°44′41.02″E
Current tenants	Fremantle Arts Centre
Groundbreaking	1844
Construction started	c1862
Completed	1899
Renovated	1985-1986
Owner	City of Fremantle
Technical details
Floor count	3 backstore
Floor area	24,000 square feet (2,200 m2)
Western Australia Heritage Register
Type	State Registered Place
Designated	29 October 1993
Reference no.	890

The business had a wide variety of activities including importing, processing, manufacturing and retail, with mail order distribution as well. Moore's product lines included food stuffs, beer, wine, flour, coffee and spices as well as hardware and mining equipment.

At various stages it was threatened by fires.^[3]

The Moore family originally attempted to sell in 1952,^[4] and eventually sold the premises in 1956 to the Stevenson family, who operated a transport company.

In 1985 the City of Fremantle purchased the property and restored it through 1985/86 with a grant from the Commonwealth Government as part of the preparations for the America's Cup defence.^[5] Since then the complex has been used for public events and exhibitions.^[6][7][8][9]

References

Information from the City of Fremantle Interpretation Plaques and Panels Research Project was used as the basis of this article. This project was completed in May 2002 by historian Kristy Bizzaca, and is available by visiting the Fremantle History Centre.

1. Heritage Council. "Moores Building, Fremantle". Register of Heritage Places-Permanent Entry. Heritage Council of Western Australia. Retrieved 22 December 2012.
2. "Place ID 10562". Australian Heritage Database. Australian Government. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
3. "Another fire at Fremantle". The West Australian. Perth. 28 April 1915. p. 8. Retrieved 2 December 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
4. "WAREHOUSE PASSED IN AT £15,000". The West Australian. Perth. 8 August 1952. p. 4. Retrieved 2 December 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
5. Kent, Jack; Dawkins, Jeremy; Kiera, Agnieshka; Fremantle (W.A. : Municipality) (1988), The Moores Buildings : a conservation project, City of Fremantle, ISBN 978-0-7316-3062-2
6. Inside out : an exhibition by 25 artists from Denmark, W.A. at the Moore's Building, Fremantle, 23 October to 3 November 1999, Artists Foundation of Western Australia, 1999, retrieved 14 May 2013
7. DiCiero, Lyn; Soroptomist International of Fremantle (2003), Remembering : women working for women, The Artist's Chronicle, ISBN 978-0-646-42479-8
8. Moores Building : contemporary art gallery, retrieved 14 May 2013
9. "Australian Web Archive". Archived from the original on 6 February 2008.