David H. Drummond, Minister for Education, was determined to remove all evidence of the gaol before the Teachers' College was constructed, wanting no association between the two, and on 10 February 1928 it was decided to demolish the building.

Some of the Commission's recommendations included the creation of a country teachers' college, an external teaching university and greater local influence in education.

The college's establishment within five months of the election bears testimony to the power of the Northern interest groups and Drummond's ministerial influence.

Newling was a well-respected principal, students called him "Pop" and ex-students kept in contact with him, sending the letters telling of their exploits since leaving College.

Drummond rejected the Government Architects suggestion that the extant gaol is modified for use as a College and refused to stand down until demolition of the building was approved.

He made several changes to the plans during the construction including authorising additional funds to slate the roof, rather than galvanised iron and to decorate the interior.

The Yarralumla Nursery started a free plant scheme under Thomas Weston which grew from its local neighbourhood to the entire nation in the 1920s, often supplying Members of Parliament.

The second permanent memorial, gates at the main entrance to the College from Mossman Street, were unveiled by C. B. Newling at the 1949 Easter Celebrations, held on the 15 April.

Under the leadership of manual arts lecturer H. W. Oxford, a group of College men won national fame making model aeroplanes for training the armed forces in the recognition of hostile aircraft.

Smith proclaimed this new policy at the Inaugural Ceremony of the College on 9 March 1928 when he stated: "Principal Newling and his staff will lay special emphasis on" the Primary School Syllabus "in the scheme and purpose of education".

[2][13] In February 2018, the New England Regional Art Museum established a permanent exhibit of selections from the more-than-1,000 Howard Hinton artworks that had been transferred from the Old Teachers' College.

[16] In April 2018, the New England Conservatorium of Music opened up the secret passageways under the building which had been used to protect art during World War II for the first time.

[17] Workers emptied the parts of the building formerly occupied by UNE in May 2018, removing old prints, paintings, negatives, historical university records, convict charge books dating back to the 1800s, old musical items and drama props amongst other things.

[19] The Old Teachers' College is an impressive Classical Revival building that stands high on a hill overlooking the City of Armidale set within its original attractive grounds.

Deciduous trees including American pin oaks (Quercus palustris) and elms, are planted in a symmetrical arrangement down the sloping garden lawn to the southern boundary on Kentucky Street.

Mature coniferous trees include Himalayan cedars (Cedrus deodara), Mediterranean cypress (Cupressus sempervirens (two pairs flank the main "front entrance" steps onto the front lawn, other pairs flank the building's main northern facade's east and west ends) and pines (Pinus spp.).

At the time of the unveiling of the foundation stones, the "Armidale Express", 4 November 1929, described the building as "The style was free treatment of Italian Renaissance.

[1] In 2006, the building was reported to be essentially unaltered with much of its original interior fabric intact, and the auditorium, ground floor and eastern wing had recently undergone restoration.

It is also physical evidence of the influential New England New State Movement and the role country politicians played during the 1920s and 1930s, particularly the Local Member of Parliament, D. H. Drummond, in the decentralisation of education.

[1] The building has social and cultural significance to the many thousands of teaching, nursing, and other adult education students who have graduated from the institution, as well as the many academic and administrative staff who have worked there since 1929.

Trainee teachers, once having tasted the delights of Sydney, did not want to return to the country and there was concern that the young minds were being exposed to the "sin and debauchery" of the city.

Inspired by Queensland's Northern Separation Movement, residents of the New England region wanted to secede from the remainder of NSW and form their own state.

Dissatisfaction arose from a perceived lack of representation and services from the Sydney-based Parliament, an example being a refusal to link the north coast to Queensland by rail, bridge or by clearing the mouth of the Clarence River for navigation.

Minister for Education and Local Member D. H. Drummond sympathised with the Movement and ensured the college was constructed in Armidale as a first step in accumulating the necessary infrastructure.

Sir Earle Christmas Grafton Page, Member for the Federal seat of Cowper, and Drummond were able to improve infrastructure in the region and decentralise services to the extent that a new state was no longer seen as a major objective.

He authorised additional expenditure for a slate roof, specialised library stacks and interior features including terrazzo and parquetry flooring in the entrance hall as well as wood panelled walls.

Deciduous trees including pin oaks and elms are planted in a symmetrical arrangement down a sloping lawn to the southern boundary on Kentucky Street.

The C. B. Newling Centre has State social and cultural significance to the many thousands of teaching, nursing and other adult education students who have graduated from the institution, as well as the many academic and administrative staff who have worked there since 1929.

The C. B. Newling Centre is of State research potential for providing an opportunity to investigate the way that an institution during World War Two set out to commemorate the fallen: initially by moving formal ceremonies held in the college auditorium and later by the construction of varied memorials including a gateway, rosemary hedge, Remembrance Book and Honour Rolls.

Newling Centre was one of the first to utilize the new system at considerable additional cost[22][1] The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a class of cultural or natural places/environments in New South Wales.