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St Kilda's crumbling palaces

St Kilda's crusty old entertainment parks and palaces are worth holding onto - but what about the Palace next to them, built in '69. St Kilda's council apparently doesn't want St Kilda to be remembered for the Sixties. They are seeking proposals to redevelop the Palace and its big carpark. Proposals should be from private developers that can 'fix the site' while they're making a bomb building shops and flats on it. A fair deal I'm sure.

The architecture of the Palace doesn't bother me at all. My only problem with the whole precinct is that all the buildings are arse about, but I guess people didn't like the beach and sun back when it was all originally built.

Anyways, it's shaping up to be the usual Melbourne style VCAT slanging match, developers vs. heritage groups and musicians. I think it is a pity that the council couldn't set some parameters for what should happen to the site rather than leaving it all to suggestions from developers. But given the inevitable brawls, maybe it was too scared too.

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/07/15/1089694494220.html

Comments

  • Anonymous
    edited January 1970
    Since they are rebuilding the pier kiosk, I think they should build a replica of Walter Burley Griffin's Palais de danse, which was also destroyed by fire (afterall there are so few examples of the great architect's work in this country). It would make a much nicer replacement to the Palace and could still be used a concert hall and would fit into the character of the early 1900s St Kilda foreshore, sitting beside the Palais Theatre, Sea Baths and Luna Park.

    [image removed]
    With Towers

    [image removed]
    Without Towers (just before the fire)

    [image removed]

    [image removed]

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    Interesting article on this debate
    http://theage.com.au/articles/2004/07/15/1089694494220.html
  • adeliadearchitecture
    edited January 1970
    isn't a question of economics

    if theres more profit to be made through redevelopment then do it or othwerwise pull the eyesore down please.

    should we pull it down? = development costs - profit

    are refurbishment costs going to be regained through profit?
  • Anonymous
    edited January 1970
    Not enough options. IT 'professionals' in the tsunami prone areas of Port Melbourne and the great unwashed in The Ciy of Port Philip council would not know design if it bit them in the buttocks.
  • Anonymous
    edited January 1970
    And by the way, somewhere, somehow, somebody forgot that the Bay is still a sewer. Have you ever ridden along the Elwood/Port foreshore on a still morning. The stench sometimes enough to turn your stomach. I suppose the 'locals' get used to it?!
  • Anonymous
    edited January 1970
    Have you been there recently?! The reeking rotting garbage. Prime real estate?1 No way.
  • peter_j
    edited January 1970
    st_kilda.jpg
    image courtsy City of Port Phillip

    Yes way according to the van Haandels, Wood Marsh, Citta, ARM, and Mirvac who are part of shortlisted teams for this triangle. This 'redevelopment' may not happen without a struggle though, it being St Kilda'n'all.
    The Palace has refused to allow council officers to inspect the building and is fighting the moves in court.

    The owners of the Palais Theatre are also refusing Government requests to inspect the building.
    http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,16441264%5E2862,00.html

    Port Phillip council boasts that, "the [three winning] consortia are... financially strong, with great combinations of architectural, planning, commercial and management experience. This gives us a lot of confidence." Yeah, no likelihood of letting any small fry with brilliant ideas in here.

    Councillor Ray admitted that, "Many locals are dying to see the expressions of interest. Unfortunately that's not possible under the 100% strictly fair and proper competitive process.” Que? Cloak the future of an important public wedge of St Kilda because of competitive process? It turns out the next stage of the competition isn't about design at all - it's a tender. We'll have to wait I guess until they select the cheapest of the three expressions of interest.

    ST KILDA'S EDGE
    http://www.portphillip.vic.gov.au/stkildas_edge.html
  • peter_j
    edited January 1970
    Some large pics in today's Age (print version) showed the winning tender for the St Kilda triangle development. No more Palace. No more car park. No more boring old grass with earth under it. The Ashton Raggat McDougall scheme gets clever with the fall across the site - many green roofs with many shops underneath (and a couple of laneways of course).

    THE AGE 26.05.07
    TRIANGLE SITE fly through
  • peter_j
    edited January 1970
    I woke up slightly late the other morning to discover that my radio had reset itself to 3LO. Jon Faine was attempting to interview the foreman for the demolition of the Palace, which was in progress (after the big and mysterious fire last week). As the foreman didn't have a lot to report, Faine went into overdrive and just started laying into the building. He tried to get the foreman to agree that a demolished Palace was a great improvement on the Palace. Poor old place. I hope all the Palace ghosts go and spook him.

    PHOTO
  • peter_j
    edited January 1970
    The whole debate about nightclubs and view shafts and what-not got a rev-on this morning with The Age's publication of an outside-the-box proposal by Nonda Katsilidis. With some brilliant clarity of vision, he has imagined the site as a new connector between the beach and the Esplanade. He reduces the 8-lane beachside road to a two lane one way road lifted up to the same height as the Esplanade, and plugs the new space underneath with shops.

    But this sort of thinking doesn't really gel with the government's PPP mentality, where private developers are given public property to develop. I hope the Nonda masterplan gets the thumbs up from the noisy St Kilda citizenry tonight (6pm St Kilda Town Hall) - then maybe we'll get a development that manages to fix St Kilda too.

    THE AGE 13.12.07 (no pics - get the paper for that)
    http://www.unchainstkilda.org/
  • mark_melb
    edited December 2009
    <p>Now that the Triangle has been shelved, the locals now need to be careful what they wish for.</p>
    <p>Remember that the original Espy proposal would have been better than the berg 'they' have now.</p>
  • jamesturner125
    edited November -1
    I hope they will keep it... Such a precious palace..wouldnt want to see it go down in dust. casino online</a
  • peter_j
    edited November -1
    Um.. James I think you may have wrong end of stick. It was a bit confusing though, having The Palais (1927) right next to The Palace (1969).

    Wikipedia has pics of both: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Kilda,_Victoria#Gentrification
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