According to documents from Trove (trove.nla.gov.au) on the 17th of Nov 1954, the Barrier Miner newspaper reported:
Within a week Broken Hill will have a self-service ice depot. The Broken Hill Ice and Produce Company has erected a depot on the corner of Sulphide and Beryl Streets and it will be in operation day and night. Blocks of ice, named by the company "household blocks," of 20lb will be sold at 1/ a block. There is no limit on the number of blocks that can be purchased. Three slides will be in operation carrying the blocks down chutes from the inside of the machine into trays. Each slide will work alternately and the total number of blocks on the slides at any one time will be 120. A thousand blocks will be stored inside the depot. To work the machine a shilling coin is inserted into a slot on a switch near the trays. When the coin is inserted the customer pushes a button on the side and turns a handle once complete revolution. The ice will then slide into the trays provided. The switch is designed to take an amount from 1d. to 1/11, but as a matter of convenience only a shilling piece will be able to be used. The price of 1/ a block is below the usual price of ice. At the iceworks a 281b block of ice can be purchased for 1/8. At the depot the "house-hold block" will cost 1/. The 20lb block will fit all ice chests and ice boxes generally in use in the city.
Storage
A building for storing the ice was necessary for the operation of the machine, and the Ice and Produce Co. erected a special storeroom 20ft long, 10ft wide and 8ft high. The room is insulated and coiled with 480ft of 1¼in pipe. A self-contained condensing unit keeps the room at an even 26 degrees in temperature and the ice will slide down into the trays on stainless steels runners. Stainless steel is used so it will not rust and so cause the ice to stick. Directions for the operation of the machine are being sign-written on the front of the depot, which will be lit by fluorescent lighting, near the switch. As far as the Ice and Produce company knows this machine will be the first one in use outside a metropolitan area. It is being used with success in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney.
No Problems
The manager of the Ice and Produce Company (Mr. C. G. Davison) said "One of the reasons that the depot has been installed is because of the difficulty which has been experienced by the company over a number of years in ice delivery. Many people who have not been able to obtain delivery of ice in the past will now be able to collect ice themselves at any time of the day or night." He said the company was anxious to see how the depot would be accepted by the people and that it would be in operation in about a week. Any defect in the City's electrical supply will not hamper or interrupt the service of the depot as it is manually operated. The corner of Beryl and Sulphide Streets has been brightened up considerably with this structure which is painted cream.
In later years the building was occupied by Mario Celloto, owner of the famous Palace Hotel from 1973 - 2004, and the neighbouring Mario's Hotel-Motel on Beryl Street.
Source: Trove.
