Thursday, April 9, 2009

Lonsdale House, Melbourne

Lonsdale House, Melbourne

Just on a year ago I wrote about Lonsdale House in Melbourne and its possible demolition as part of the redevelopment of the Lonsdale Street Myer store.

As reported in today's Age the battle to save the building continues with the Art Deco and Modernism Socety and National Trust on one side, Colonial First State Management Company and Myer on the other and the State Planning Minister, Justin Madden in the middle.

In 1934, architect I G Anderson combined two earlier structures to create this unusual building which explains the asymetrical look.

Lonsdale House, Melbourne

Colonial have applied to the State Government for permission to demolish Lonsdale House. They are quoted as saying "Caledonian Lane needs to be widened to cater for the servicing requirements of this part of the city's retail core, and this necessitates the demolition of Lonsdale House". In other words, we need to destroy this beautiful building so we can get the trucks into the back of our shop.

Colonial go on to say "We are proposing to retain the major heritage facades to Lonsdale Street and Little Bourke Street without compromising the future functionality of the redevelopment of this iconic site."

No doubt the 'major heritage facades' refer to the Myer itself, not Lonsdale House.

The geometric tower on Lonsdale House is a Melbourne icon. I urge Colonial First State Property Management and Myer to find a way to retain this iconic building rather than have their names forever associated with this act of corporate vandalism.

I further urge Minister Justin Madden to reject their application and protect this wonderful piece of Melbourne heritage.

Lonsdale House, Melbourne

6 comments:

  1. Thanks Elena-Lu, it is a beautiful building.

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  2. Gorgoeus photos of a very special piece of Art Deco architecture - I haven't seen anything as intricate up here in Sydney. It's a gem and must be saved!

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  3. I love this building and I sincerely hope that it is retained. Make sure you Google "Save Lonsdale House". There is an online petition and lot of people are calling on the government to prevent its demolition.

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  4. I urge everyone to support this campaign to retain Lonsdale House. The decision is currently in the hands of Planning Minister Justin Madden. Lets all prod him along to make the right decision.

    Email: kate.kraft@dpcp.vic.gov.au.
    And/or the Minister for Planning directly - justin.madden@parliament.vic.gov.au

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