Waitara Lock-Up, Memorial Place (1911)

This wooden building was constructed in 1911 as Waitara's second lock-up. 

In late 1910, it was decided to make alterations to the Waitara Police Station, and to erect a new lock-up to replace Waitara's first lock-up, constructed in 1875. Tenders for this work were called for in May 1911, and construction is thought to have been completed later that year. The building has three small rooms, the two end rooms were cells, and the central portion was used as an office until 1938, when new premises were built.

The 1911 lock-up served Waitara for a number of decades before the old wooden building was declared a fire hazard, and then largely used as a storeroom at the Police Station on Parris Street. 

In 1983, it was decided to relocate the lock-up to Pennington Park/Memorial Place, restore the building, and open it as a museum. In 1984, the Waitara Historical Society also obtained Waitara's first lock-up (see linked topic), and this was also moved to Memorial Place. 

That both Waitara's first and second lock-up's survived is extremely fortunate. Together the two buildings are a rare pairing of lock-up's constructed in succession, and cover a significant and continuous period in Waitara's policing history.