At Kingston, the original depot was located near the Power Station. In the late 1920’s, a new garage and workshop was built off Wentworth Avenue to the south of the Power Station. This latter garage was then incorporated into a much larger depot in the 1930’s and was, in turn, converted into the bus and truck workshop in the early 1970’s.
The amount of land occupied by the Transport Section at Kingston increased over a 45-year period until it reached its maximum in 1971 when the existing ‘new’ building (now the Bus Depot Markets), was opened. A fibro-clad shed had been built adjacent to the present Government Printing Office (AGPS), during World War II, and acquired some years later by the bus service. This followed by a new lubritorium in the early 1950’s. Alterations to the first group of buildings were made over the years until the original structure became almost unrecognisable.
By the time the building, later known as the ‘lower workshop’ was reconstructed in 1981, only one small galvanised iron wall of the old building remained on site. The recent renovations included construction of a new store, offices and electrical workshop. This area was solely used for the repairs to the car and truck fleet owned by the DCT and the Department of Administrative Services.
Since being vacated by ACTION in July 1992, the former depot has been host to the “Old Bus Depot Markets”. It was provisionally listed on the ACT Heritage Register in July 2010.
Source: “Canberra’s Engineering Heritage – Chapter Three” written by Ian G. Cooper, Leslie J. Pascoe and Ian Morrison.
This page was last updated on 22 May 2021
