Work Bench

In a chemistry prep area within the maths block at Macquarie Boys Technology High School, a rusted Joplin 2.5 inch Semi Steel vise sits bolted to a dusty workbench. Beside it a white push-button telephone with a coiled cord rests among broken glass, loose debris and an open empty cardboard box. A dark metal grate closes off the space beyond the bench. Dust coats everything evenly, the kind of accumulation that comes from years of vacancy rather than days. The school began its life far from this site. Post-primary boys' classes were operating on Macquarie Street, Parramatta, as early as 1920, eventually becoming Parramatta Junior High School in January 1944 and then Macquarie Boys' High School in 1955. The move to the purpose-built campus on the corner of Kissing Point Road and James Ruse Drive at Rydalmere came at the end of 1957. The buildings were constructed under the NSW Government Architect's Branch during the tenure of Cobden Parkes, who served as Government Architect from 1935 to 1958. In 1989, the word "Technology" was added to the school's name, reflecting the curriculum emphasis that gave its technical rooms their purpose. By 2007, enrolments had fallen to 220 students. NSW Education Minister John Della Bosca announced the school's closure on 23 August 2007, and the campus shut permanently at the end of 2009. What followed was nine years of vacancy: three fires, sustained vandalism, and the slow deterioration of buildings that no one had plans for. This photograph was made in 2015, while the structures still stood. Demolition of all remaining buildings was completed by November 2018. The work bench in this frame no longer exists.