The former administration building of J Kitchen & Sons in Ingles Street, Port Melbourne has been boarded up for more than five years and it's fair to say those years haven't been kind to this mid-1920s building. Just about all the windows are broken and the facade is covered with graffiti.
There is some hope on the horizon with Dr Jeanne Shaw and Sophie Fenton planning to open a
school in the building in the next few years and I was lucky enough to tag along when they toured the building this morning.
It's not the first time I've been inside this building. I've been inside once before in May 1996 when Unichema, as Kichen's had become by that time, still used the building as offices. You can read a bit about the building in
this 2009 post.
Unsurprisingly, the interior is not in very good shape at all. Vandals have done their work and some of the floor has been lifted to allow the removal of asbestos.
But it's still interesting to compare my photos from 1996 with the building today and have a peak at a few places I didn't get to on my first visit.
Front Staircase
The Main Office (from the balcony)
The Director's Office
In 1996, I didn't make it into the Social Hall but here's what it looked like when it was opened from Kitchen's in-house magazine
Advance in October 1925 compared with this morning.
A highlight came in a strange little room on the roof of the main building with this homage to
Rinso.
.jpg)
I can see what you said about J Kitchen & Sons operating in Port Melbourne since the 1850s making such products as Velvet Soap and Electrine Candles. Then Kitchen & Lever then Unilever etc.
ReplyDeleteBut what went wrong? You would think the land would have been very valuable and the building very smart.
Hard to know Helen. At some stage they decided not to use the Administration building anymore and thankfully they didn't try to demolish it. Over time they used less and less of the buildings on their large site and eventually moved out a couple of years ago leaving their archive to the Port Melbourne Historical & Preservation Society. Now the site is the first part of the Fishermens Bend/Montague area to be redeveloped as residential. Most of the site has been cleared and they are hoping to start building houses April/May next year and have the school in the old admin building by 2016.
DeleteVery interesting. It is not a building I am aware of and I hope the school project goes ahead. I also hope the present design plans for the area are thrown away and there is a good rethink.
ReplyDeleteIt is a very interesting building Andrew and it will be interesting to see how the plans for Fishermen's Bend/Montague change with a new Government.
Delete