Following my earlier post about the swift demolition  of buildings by Myer and David Jones, the 1888 Robertson & Moffat store which includes the once picture postcard skybridge across Little Bourke Street and historic Myer signage is currently under demolition by Myer.

Robertson & Moffat buildings (1888) under demolition

The building on the corner of Staughton Place is the last piece of pre-war architecture on this side of this once important streetscape with David Jones completing the demolition of its former Little Bourke Street fronts.  315 Little Bourke, a richly detailed stone Edwardian framing Angelo Lane and the GPO has already been demolished and its neighbour is an elegant interwar warehouse with decorative giant order columns.

The streetscape was one of the few in Melboure’s retail heart which featured a mix of height limited four and six storey pre-war buildings. Despite their laneway frontage, many of them featured detailed facades with pediments which gave depth and detail to the streetscape.   They were also part of the Melbourne City Council Post Office Precinct Heritage Overlay.  Like Flinders Lane, they once represented a little piece of SoHo in Melbourne.

The rear of the David Jones building, currently

Rear of David Jones Buildings under demolition

scaffolded, reveals many previously hidden finely decorated plaster ceilings and walls.

One would have thought that the facades of these buildings which like any old building, had become gritty, could have be painted or washed and incorporated in the new development to preserve the significant pre-war streetscape.  I mean if they wanted extra light, why not simply unpaint the windows that have been boarded up and painted over since the 1950s ?

Whether its shiny glass new look will stand the test of time remains to be seen. Personally I think it is one last vain attempt for these two department store giants to remain relevant to 21st century shoppers.

One of the historic buildings already demolished as part of the Myer redevelopment, the six storey Post & Telegraph Building (1908)

Nevertheless there is certainly plenty of competition in the new and shiny department with the completion of the Waterfront City retail complex in nearby Docklands as well as the QV precinct, which has drawn retailers further north of the former retail heart. One would think that Docklands represented the perfect opportunity for Myer and David Jones to start afresh.

Meanwhile, the plight of architecturally significant art deco Lonsdale House, which Myer is determined to demolish, is still very much in the balance.

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