Welcome to another of our East-life stories, about the people, places and moments that make Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs feel like home. This one is close to our own hearts: a sports pavilion on the playing fields of Waverley College.
From Green Gables to a new pavilion
Before the pavilion we know today, Waverley College had an earlier pavilion known as “Green Gables”. In 1960 it was lost to fire. The school community rallied, and £23,000 was raised through an art union to build a replacement. For younger readers, an art union was a fundraising lottery, a much-loved way for Australian communities of the day to raise money for a good cause, and it’s a lovely reminder of how much the pavilion mattered to the Waverley family.
The new Queens Park Pavilion was built in 1962. It was designed by architect Professor Neville Joseph Anderson (1920–1986), a Waverley old boy from the Class of 1936, and Peter’s father. In 1985 the pavilion was renamed the T & M Hayes Pavilion.
A reunion of descendants
On 10 August 2024, Waverley College held a reunion to unveil plaques at the Queens Park Pavilion, bringing together descendants of the pavilion’s architect, Neville Anderson, and its builder, Mr Geoffrey McCabe (Class of 1947). Geoffrey’s son Tim is one of Peter’s oldest and closest friends, and the two were classmates at Waverley.
The plaque reads: “In memory of Architect, Prof. Neville Joseph Anderson – Class of 1936 and Builder, Geoff Charles McCabe – Class of 1947. They worked together to design and construct the Queens Park Pavilion in 1962 with funds which came mostly from the generous parents of Waverley College in 1960–61 following an art union, without which the building would never have been constructed.”
It’s a lovely thing for a school to do. Buildings like this quietly become part of the background of school life, and a plaque makes sure the people behind them are remembered by the students who come next. For our family, it’s very special to know that Neville’s name is now part of the pavilion’s story.
A big thank you to Waverley College for honouring the pavilion’s history, and to everyone who helped bring the reunion together.
A Waverley boy
A generation after his father, Peter was a Waverley boy too. He grew up on Birriga Road, and as a boy he’d run down through the laneways to Bondi Beach. Anyone who grew up in the East will know the feeling: bare feet, salty hair and that first glimpse of the ocean between the houses. At Waverley College, rugby and swimming were his sports.
That love of the water has stayed with him. In 2026 Peter won the Bondi Icebergs Men’s Over 70 50m Age Championship. Some things really do stay with you.
Rooted in the East
Peter began selling real estate in Kings Cross in 1983, and in 1990 he opened his own agency in Double Bay. Over all those years, it’s places like Queens Park that remind us why we love the Eastern Suburbs: the schools, clubs and communities that bring people together, generation after generation. A pavilion built by a school community, designed by an old boy and remembered by descendants decades later is about as East as a story gets.
More East-life stories to come
There are plenty more East-life stories to tell.
If you have a favourite Eastern Suburbs memory, or a local place with a story behind it, we’d love to hear from you.
Peter and Jacinta
Peter Anderson: 0412 281 133, peter@peteranderson.au
Jacinta Anderson: 0414 363 370, jacinta@peteranderson.au
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