Old Eastern Arcade under immediate threat

This rare Byzantine inspired building is proposed for demolition as part of a new office development.

Demolition of the existing buildings and the construction of a 25 storeybuilding for use as serviced apartments, ground level retail and basement car parking

Here is an extract from the Melbourne City Council's minutes advocating for the retention of the facade based on recommendations from the National Trust.

Application for Planning Permit to the Minister for Planning: 131-135 Bourke
Street, Melbourne
The purpose of this report was to advise the Committee of a
planning application made to the Minister for Planning
for the demolition of
the existing buildings and the construction of a 25 storey building for use as
serviced
apartments, ground level retail and basement car parking at 131-135
Bourke Street, Melbourne.
Jonathan Fetterplace of Urbis on behalf of the
applicant, spoke in favour of the development, making comment
regarding
planning considerations and heritage investigations for the site.
Dr Mimi
Colligan spoke in favour of the introduction of heritage controls for the
site.
Peter Johnson, on behalf of the Victorian Theatres Trust spoke in
favour of the introduction of heritage controls for
the site.
In response
to questions raised by Councillors Mr Johnson made the following comments:
•
the side walls of the theatre hall remained intact, but not the theatre hall
itself;
• the eastern arcade was thought to have been demolished, however
when screens on the façade of the building
were removed in 1998 it was found
to be intact;
• the building was listed with the Victorian Theatres Trust in
2000, however is not Heritage listed; and
• the façade is unique and should
be retained.
Mark O’Dwyer, on behalf of the Victorian Theatres Trust spoke in
favour of the introduction of heritage controls for
the site.
Simon Dick
of Woods Bagot spoke in favour of the development, and in response to questions
raised by Councillors,
made the following comments:
• the applicant had
considered retaining the façade however it did not feel like the right
architectural fit;
• it was technically possible to retain the façade only;
and
• the cost associated with retaining and restoring the façade had not
been determined.
James Evans on behalf of the applicant, spoke in favour of
the development, and in response to questions raised by
Councillors, made the
following comments:
• the matter regarding the façade would need to be
resolved by December;
• the applicant would be disappointed with heritage
overlays due to the delays it would cause to development;
• serviced
apartments were originally proposed as part of the development, however that
operator had left;
• traffic management had been incorporated into the plans,
with 45 car spaces currently allocated;
• retaining the façade and existing
building back to 17 metres would result in the loss of 8 car spaces;
• should
the façade be retained, it would undergo considerable restoration at a
considerable cost;
• the existing verandah would be replaced;
• the ground
floor itself may not be restored; and
• funding would be sought from the
National Trust with regard to any restoration work.
5
Rohan Storey, on
behalf of the National Trust of Australia (Victoria), spoke against the
development, and in support
of the heritage overlay being applied to the
site.
In response to questions raised by Cr Clarke, Mr Storey agreed that a
strategic review of the Planning Scheme should
be undertaken by Council in
the near future.

The full planning application can be read here.