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The Toll House Restoration

Greater Sydney Parklands is committed to nurturing important and unique heritage and special landscapes as well as adapting them for community use. Over $4 million has been invested in restoration and upgrade works on the only surviving metropolitan toll houses in NSW.   

The historic Moore Park Toll House has been restored and turned into a unique health and wellness centre. Discover the upgrades a state-of-the-art gym facilities, and take up a seven-day free trial.
 

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  • Project name: The Toll House restoration 

  • Location: Corner of Anzac Parade & Cleveland Street, Moore Park

  • Project timing: Building restoration works started in 2018, upgrade works in 2019 and the final venue fit out was completed in February 2022. 

History of The Toll House 

The Toll House oopened in 1860 and collected tolls until 1890. 

The Moore Park Toll House is the only surviving metropolitan toll house and the only two-storey toll house in New South Wales. In its original sandstone form, it is representative of Victorian, gothic-style architecture, featuring a T-shaped configuration with a central bay to allow a line of sight for the oncoming traffic.

The introduction of the rail system in the 1870s led to the decline of relevance of the toll house. Road use declined and traffic congestion made the collection of tolls inefficient and frustrating for road users.

Toll collections ceased in 1890, and from 1913 to 1926 the toll house was transformed into a clubhouse for golfers at Moore Park Golf. Read more about the history of the Toll Houses here on our blog.

While it has had a number of periodic uses, the building has been modified and added to over the years, and most recently used as a support depot for staff from NSW Public Works until 1999, then a maintenance depot for Moore Park Golf. In 2000 the building was listed on the State Heritage Register.

Find out more about the history of The Toll House here

Location

Project description and timeline

Adaptive reuse of The Toll House is a key opportunity in the Moore Park Masterplan 2040 and is in keeping the Centennial Parklands and Moore Park Trust Act (CPMPT Act) and Greater Sydney Parklands' strategic goals. 

Funding was secured from Treasury in 2016 for the conservation and preservation of the Toll House. Plans were approved by the NSW Heritage Council in 2018 to repair and restore the Toll House. 

The works were completed in three stages:

  • $2.4M was spent on extensive repair and restoration works which took a year to complete (2018-2019)
  • $849K invested in civial and drainage upgrade works and $442K in power upgrade works (2019-2021)
  • $786K on a venue fit out, completed in February 2022. 

Before the restoration

The Toll House before the restoration (exterior)
 
The Toll House before the restoration (exterior)
 
The Toll House before the restoration (interior)
 

 

After the restoration

The Toll House after the restoration (exterior)
 
The Toll House after the restoration (interior)

 

What next for The Toll House?

The Toll House has been turned into a unique health and wellness centre offering: 

  • a boutique environment
  • Allied Health - physiotherapy and exercise physiology
  • state of the art gym facilities 
  • small group training classes
  • personal training
  • tailored fitness programming 
 

Discover the upgrades a state-of-the-art gym facilities, and take up a seven-day free trial.

The Toll House plan
 
The Reformer Pilates studio
 
The outside area
 
The yoga and wellbeing studio