A visiting clergyman sowed the seed for an institute in Mount Gambier in 1862. The idea quickly took off in the form of lectures, a library, fund raising and a temporary building. Next came a government grant for a Mount Gambier Institute building with a lecture hall and library. By 1907 the Institute had a hall that could hold 1000 people.
When the Council took over the property and supported the Institute the building became the venue for an Art Gallery. In 2023 the building is part of the Mount Gambier Civic Centre that has taken on a whole new range of roles. An article in the latest edition of the Victorian Mechanics’ Institute magazine Useful Knowledge tells the story of how the building and the Institute grew.