History

Council opened the doors to the Court House Gallery with a free community event on Friday 19 February 2021.This low-set concrete building with a simple classic facade was, historically, the second courthouse building constructed in Cairns, with its foundations laid in 1919. Now restored, it features wide timber verandas on the rear and side elevations and a crest over the entrance door. (The first Cairns Courthouse was opened in 1884 on the Esplanade but was entering a state of disrepair and had been outgrown by the local court by 1890).

The Court House Gallery is part of an arts complex that also includes the Cairns Art Gallery. This two-acre site has been reserved since 1876 for public purposes, and both buildings were erected between the First and Second World Wars.