Writing as the Director of the Australian National Academy of Music’s renewal project in the South Melbourne Town Hall, I urge the community to grasp the chance to rethink the manner in which that magnificent building – in the process of receiving an investment of $110m to provide it with a 21st century purpose – relates to its neighbours and to its environment. With the celebration of the Town Hall’s 150th anniversary in three years’ time, we have now an invaluable opportunity to envision a fresh future for this part of Melbourne that will nourish and nurture its residents and visitors for generations to come.
I am not currently associated with City of Port Phillip’s plans – although am broadly supportive of Option A as a minimum – but would suggest that we do not assume at this point that the newly created area is going to consist of paved bluestone (nothing could be worse!) I understand that Council is only seeking feedback for a proposal that expands the amount of public space in the precinct – in essence by replacing land for cars with land for people – establishing a breathtaking setting for the Town Hall. How that space is to be designed is for further consideration.
The following sketch suggests the considerable opportunity available to us (an extension of Council’s Option A scope):
Everyone familiar with the Emerald Hill precinct is aware of the amount of traffic that skirts the Clarendon and Park streets intersection by shooting up Bank and down Perrins streets at reckless speeds. Having worked here for 15 years, the number of times on attempting to cross Bank Street from the island, that traffic circling the bend has forced me to jump backwards are too many to record: the current timid landscaping and layout is a hazard. This plan would put an end to this danger, and create a quiet urban space. Through traffic of course would not be banished from Bank St (with Park and Dorcas streets, not that it is required) which will be diverted north round the Town Hall and back.
We believe that for residents, particularly families, and traders who breathe life into the suburb, the creation of over 5,000sqm of new open space will be a boon. The South Melbourne Business Association recognises the heft that a new public space, drawing people to the precinct from far and wide, will deliver to the struggling south Clarendon and Park streets retail and hospitality trade.
However, beyond enriching the amenity of the area by reducing the amount of traffic and doubling the amount of public space, by far the most important opportunity presented by this proposal is to foreground the importance of this site as a First Nations gathering place (as captured in Liardet’s famous painting). For too long the significance of the precinct has been defined by its civic history, rather than acknowledging the deep and important First Nations history of the site. This has been a central concern in the approach to the renewal of the Town Hall itself: drawing a line from the deep past of the land, through the present and into the future.
ANAM and Council’s $110m renewal of the South Melbourne Town Hall is going to transform this building, opening it out to more visitors and a more prominent role in community life than it has enjoyed for decades. With two state-of-art public venues (available for community hire at special community rates), public meeting rooms, foyer bar and other spaces, this community will once again be proud hosts to one of the country’s most beautiful community, arts, cultural and education facilities. It will be, in short, magnificent!
Approached in a sensitive way, the rethinking of the Town Hall’s forecourt could lead to the creation of a wonderful new space that acknowledges its First Nations history, brings the three beautiful buildings that encircle it into elegant conversation, and once again defines the precinct as place for gathering: a grand vision befitting that being enacted within the Town Hall itself.
To move thinking forward, we suggest that people vote for Option A, opening the way for some creative and ambitious thinking to begin.
Council’s Have Your Say website has an online survey and is open for feedback until 11:59 pm on Sunday, 5 July 2026, at Enhancing South Melbourne Town Hall public space | Have Your Say Port Phillip.
Story supplied by: Nick Bailey, Director, ANAM & South Melbourne Town Hall Renewal
