As reported back in 2005, Lend Lease wants to demolish one of Melbourne's and for that matter - Australia's - best examples of monumental stripped classical architecture.
Well although the Freemasons declined to exercise their option to sell the to developers then, it has recently been reported that Lend Lease and the Freemasons Victoria have reopened talks now that the Freemasons have transfered ownership of their nearby hospital site which has also undergone significant redevelopment.
Both the interiors and exteriors are cu rrently completely intact and largely unaltered. The building is in a Melbourne City Council heritage overlay, however it is unlikely that the State Government through VCAT will not approve the proposal on heritage grounds without Heritage Council listing due to the difficulty in integrating the building into the new development.
In the meantime, incredibly there has been little action from conservation groups and there is still no heritage protection offered to this landmark building so it looks increasingly likely that Melbourne will lose a modern icon which is of cultural significance to the state.
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Monday, August 18, 2008
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2 comments:
Oh no that is shocking news. I walk past this building almost daily and frequently stop to think about it.
Interestingly I found it very difficult to find information about it. It recieves no mention in most architectural histories of Melbourne, i.e. Philip Goad et al's 'Melbourne Architecture.'
Rumour has it the deal has fallen through and the hall is going to continue to operate in situ for at least the next 10 years.
Whether this leads to the Freemasons spending some decent money on its upkeep remains to be seen - inside the operations and equipment have hardly changed since it was built in the 60s! I suspect this has been their convenient excuse to try to dispose of it instead of doing some serious upgrades to reinstate it as one of Melbourne's premier concert venues (anything between several hundred grand to a couple of million to bring it to current performing arts centre standards).
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