In November 1881, it was proposed to construct a School of Arts at Southport. In October 1883, the Queensland Governmentset aside a reserve for the School of Arts and by the end of the month the building was completed. In April 1919 a meeting of returned soldiers from World War I decided to establish a Southport sub-branch of the Returned Sailors and Soldiers Imperial League of Australia. In August 1938 the Southport branch of the Returned Soldiers' League proposed to take over the School of Arts building, which had been modernised in 1934, to continue its role as a School of Arts as well as being a clubhouse for the Southport RSL. In December 1938, a meeting of the subscribers of the School of Arts agreed to hand over the building to the RSL in return for the RSL renovating the building, upgrading the furniture and expanding the library. The RSL took over the building to accommodate its growing membership and established a women's auxiliary. In 1952 the Southport RSL planned to build a new 2-storey brick building in front of the existing building to be completed in about 18 months. However, it was not completed until 1956. The brick building was subsequently refurbished on a number of occasions with a major renovation in 1996.
Services
The public services offered by the Southport RSL include a restaurant, cafe and bars as well as entertainment and a gaming room. These services provide the funding for the Southport RSL to deliver on its primary mission, which is to support current and former military personnel and their families through practical assistance with matters of physical and mental well-being, being able to access pensions and other government assistance, and by advocacy for better facilities and services.
Memorials
At the Southport RSL building there are two war memorials, the Roll of Honour for World War I service created by the Southport Shire Council which hangs inside the building and the Southport RSL Cenotaph which is outside the building on the corner of Scarborough and Lawson Streets flanked by flagpoles. The Roll of Honour was first proposed and agreed upon at a meeting of the Southport Shire Council in July 1916. The roll was unveiled by James Tolmie, as part of the annual Southport Show in September 1916. Tolmie was then the Leader of the Opposition in the Queensland Legislative Assembly, but more pertinent to the unveiling, he had enlisted at age 53 in the Australian Imperial Force and, as a major, was in command of a troop ship. To accommodate larger numbers of people, Southport RSL holds its major commemorative services such as the annual Anzac Day ceremonies at the Southport War Memorial and Memorial Gates at ANZAC Park in the Broadwater Parklands. After the pre-dawn march and dawn ceremony at the Southport War Memorial on Anzac Day, a "gunfire breakfast" is served at the Southport RSL clubhouse. A second ceremony is held mid-morning. The Southport War Memorial was unveiled on 25 April 1922 by John Appel, the localMember of the Queensland Legislative Assembly in the presence of the largest-ever crowd in Southport. The memorial is and consists of a base surmounted to digger statue with marble tablets on the sides of the base listing the names of those who died.
