The Gables, St Kilda

What do we think of these flats in St Kilda?

They don't look very Art Deco but they do have a deco name, The Gables, in deco lettering ...

and a fabulous deco door.

Acland Court Pharmacy, St Kilda

This is the Acland Street frontage of the Acland Court Pharmacy. It is a 1938 former G J Coles & Co store designed by architect Harry A Norris.

It is part of the St Kilda Market Complex which is cited in the City of Port Phillip Heritage Review as a Significant heritage building.

The doorways are interesting because they have an Art Deco pattern in the terrazzo entrances. Unfortunately they are not looking there best and, in fact, it is rare to see them because they are usually covered by large mats. It would be lovely to see them cleaned up and put on show a bit more often.

Reference:
City of Port Phillip Heritage Review, August 2000

Woolindra, St Kilda

As the Coodabeens said on the radio this morning, It's deja vu all over again. Grand Final 2010 Reloaded ... Groundhog Day ... or quite simply (and correctly) the AFL Grand Final 2010 Replay pits St Kilda against Collingwood again for the premiership after their epic draw last week.

As a history buff and a St Kilda tragic I'm thrilled to have been at a drawn Grand Final.

Some people never get to see their team play in a Grand Final and I'm going to see the Saints play three in two years.

So here is a lovely Art Deco block of flats in St Kilda. Woolindra. Enjoy.

GO SAINTERS!

Go Saints, 2010 AFL Grand Final

St Kilda have won their way into successive Grand Finals for only the second time in their 137 year history. In 1965 we finished top of the ladder and lost the Grand Final before winning the premiership, our only premiership, in 1966 beating Collingwood by 1 point.

In 2009 we finished top and lost the Grand Final and today we play Collingwood for premiership glory. I will be among the 100,000 plus people at the 'G' today and I can only dream of what it will feel like if we are in front when the final siren sounds.

Last year I posted photos of 20th C buildings decorated in St Kilda colours so I've done the same this year, including some old favourites and some new ones.

Raising the St Kilda flag at the Prince of Wales in Fitzroy Street, St Kilda

Streamline flat in Fitzroy Street

Saints fans posing for a picture outside a red, white and black shop in Fitzroy Street.

Marli Place, Upper Esplanade

St Kilda flags on Vineyard Restaurant, Acland Street. I wonder if they decorated the lamppost as well.

A Saints flag on the corner of the Vineyard Restaurant in Acland Street, St Kilda.

A St Kilda guernsey in a ground floor flat in St Kilda.

90s 'crusader' style St Kilda guernsey.

Very loyal Sainters in Ballantrae.

Flats in Middle Park

Old VFL St Kilda guernsey in the window of a flat in Middle Park.

St Kilda flag flying over the St Kilda Sea Baths.

GO SAINTERS!

Carn the Saints

St Kilda Town Hall

No prizes for picking St Kilda Town Hall as a fairly substantial Victorian building but ... well it's Grand Final week and the Saints are in the Grand Final for the first time since 1997. We've only won it once in 1966. Maybe 2009 will be our year if we can defeat a fantastic Geelong team.

As you can see the City of Port Phillip, which now includes the former City of St Kilda has decorated the Town Hall in the Red, White and Black of the Sainters.

But this is an Art Deco blog, so in that spirit the portico, although not deco was built in 1925 and some deco elements can be seen in the glasswork of the doors.

In 1939 further alterations were made to the Town Hall and some interior features have an Art Deco feel.

In the 1990s a fire badly damaged the building but was quickly restored with a remodelled auditorium. The Town Hall has been extended and reworked in recent years providing among other things gallery space and better staff facilities.

GO SAINTS

Public Conveniences, St Kilda

I don't know if it is a particular Art Deco fascination or not but on every Art Deco tour we like to check out the bathrooms and toilets. From the fabulous rest room at Radio City Music Hall in NYC to the most humble house the bathroom is often a treasure trove of deco features. As Robin Grow, noted author and President of the Art Deco and Modernist Society would say in his best Aussie slang, 'we love a good deco dunny'.

These Public Conveniences are cut in the the garden embankment between Jacka Boulevard and Upper Esplanade in the Melbourne seaside suburb of St Kilda.

I doubt they are a 'treasure trove of deco' inside but the streamline lines and mushroom light provide a wonderful exterior.

Although there is no overt signage identifying the Public Toilets on Upper Esplanade, they are marked by a pair of fabulous Art Deco pillars.

Mandalay, St Kilda

On the Upper Esplanade in St Kilda there are two identical blocks of flats called Mandalay.

By the 1990s they had become very run-down and could quite easily have become a target for demolition. However through community action the flats were saved and now they are wonderful showcase of St Kilda's (and Melbourne's) Art Deco heritage.

The balconies that had been enclosed were opened up. The facade repaired and repainted and the glass in the central doors and windows brought back to their original glory.

A new metal fence was constructed using the patterns from the leadlight windows.

St Kilda Cemetery, East St Kilda

On Sunday I attended the Albert Jacka Memorial Service at St Kilda Cemetery.

Captain Albert Jacka VC MC and bar served in the 14 Battalion, AIF during WWI. He was the first Australian to be awarded a Victoria Cross and probably should have received one or two more for later acts of bravery during the war.

In 1929 he was elected to St Kilda council and served as the Mayor in 1930. While on Council, Jacka, worked to assist the unemployed of the area but did not seek re-election when his term ended in 1931.

In December of that year he was admitted to the Caulfield Military Hospital and died on January 17, 1932 aged 39.

He was a true hero and Jacka Boulevard on St Kilda's beachfront is named in his honour.

While visiting the cemetery I took to opportunity to hunt out some art deco grave sites and it was interesting to see the different styles and materials used.

There are many simple concrete graves with curved ends decorated with simple parallel lines etched into the raw surface.

In
loving memory of
Alexander Cameron
died 19th January 1949
also his loved wife
Elizabeth
died 12th December 1950

At Rest

In loving memory
of
my father
Richard E G Bayford
14.8.39
and mother
Eileen L
22.9.45

Parents of Deirdre

Others have stepped supports for the headstone.

A tribute of love
to
the memory of my beloved husband & our loving father
Charles Joseph Totterdell
who died 21st April 1938
aged 68 years

A tribute of love
to
the memory of my beloved husband & our loving father
Christian (Stein)
fell asleep 18th May 1937
aged 46 years

In loving memory
of
Richard Frederick
Findlay
died 13th Deecember 1939

This one used decorative bricks.

In loving memory
of
Mary Josephine
beloved wife of Christopher Ryan
loved mother of Arthur & Tom
died 11th July 1955, aged 79
and
Christopher Arthur
beloved husband of Mary Ryan
loved father of Arthur & Tom
died 23rd July 1958, aged 87

Requiescat In Pace

These graves used glazed brown tiles.

Our Beloved Mother
in memory

In loving memory of
Mary Ellen Keeshan
loved wife of Ernest Wm
loving mother of Pat, Nat & Peg
died 3rd October 1947

R.I.P

And these lemon coloured tiles for an only daughter

A tribute of love
to
our dearly loved only daughter
Beryl Jean Nicholls
born 6th September 1915
died 1st July 1940

Peace Perfect Peace