Posts Tagged ‘googie’

Earlier this year we raised concerns over the future of the Oakleigh Motel.

That future is (for now at least) secured, as common sense prevailed.  Heritage Victoria intervened and the building is now on the Victorian Heritage Register.

Although unbelievably, the developer has appealed the decision.  Let’s hope that with official legal protection this madness doesn’t proceed any futher.

Northcote Bowl 1963 design

Northcote Bowl, a large building in Northcote is the largest of the remaining buildings from the bowling alley boom of the 1960s.  The 1963 design by Fisher & Jackson is reminiscent of the National Gallery of Victoria from the same era with a distinctive arched facade demonstrating a key element of the late Googie style. 

Darebin Council has made a bid to save the building from demolition and vow to take the heritage appeal to Heritage Victoria, commissioning a detailed heritage report.

The site is subject to a development proposal for 96 apartments which recently planning minister Justin Madden has said he wants to push ahead with, creating new pathways and siding with the developer to increase the scale of the new development from $16 million to $37 million.  The application has attraced just 35 objections and locals, the Municipal Association of Victoria and the state opposition fear that communities are being robbed of their democratic rights .

Thanks to Butterpaper for the tip off.

It came as a big suprise to me that there are plans to demolish the Oakleigh Motel, Melbourne’s first motel.

Oakleigh Motel in 1956

The Oakleigh motel at 1650-1656 Dandenong Road was built for the 1956 Olympics.  It is not only the first of its kind, but one of the best and only examples of 1950s Googie style commercial architecture in Melbourne with its bold signage and “space age” futurist design style including leaning sheet windows, uplifting roof and giant typefaced signs.  It even did a cameo in a 1994 Australian film.  While some might think it is a throwback from an otherwise uninspiring postwar era, this era in a way very much defined Melbourne as the modern car loving metropolis that it is, with the motor car playing a big role in the motor inns spread through the outer fringes of the city.

Though the building is substantially intact and earned some heritage accolades in 1991 and 2001 when it was added to the Monash City Heritage Register, developers plan to raze the historic building for a townhouse development.  Quite alarmingly, the Monash City Council have decided to repeal their own heritage status for the building and have instead decided in favour of the developer and granted permission to demolish it.

This is quite sad to me, as I had long appreciated the landmark quality of this distinctive building driving past it back when I lived in suburban Murrumbeena.  After a recent spate of similar demolitions, I am starting to wonder if heritage listing actually means anything any more.  There is little doubt that the Melbourne 2030 planning policy, would have played a role in the council’s decision.  The policy classifies Oakleigh, a city with great heritage, as a ‘Major Activity Centre’.  The state government through VCAT would have most likely ruled in favour of the developer and the council probably decided it wasn’t worth the legal bunfight.  This is sadly the precarious position this policy has put much of Victoria’s heritage in – between a rock and a hard place.

A group of locals and the National Trust have appealed the demolition of the historic motel, the National Trust have put a strong case to Heritage Victoria who have granted provisional protection until a full decision is made.

While there is hope of facadism, there is little doubt that this important building, due to a backflip by Monash Council, will no longer remain Melbourne’s oldest motel and may indeed be lost forever.

View Larger Map