64-480: The Australian Performing Arts Collection at Arts Centre Melbourne , formerly known as Performing Arts Museum ( PAM ), is the largest specialist performing arts collection in Australia, with over 780,000 items relating to the history of circus, dance, music, opera and theatre in Australia and of Australian performers overseas. Established in 1975, the collection was originally known as Performing Arts Museum (PAM) and
128-516: A committee was set up to advise on the sources and types of material to be included in PAM. At the time, the museum's name had not been finalised, and suggestions included Museum of the Performing Arts, Stage Museum, or Performing Arts Museum, with the later being decided upon in 1977. The Performing Arts Museum was officially launched by Premier Sir Rupert Hamer on 30 October 1978 with a display held at
192-530: A major upgrade of the theatre, as part of the $ 1.7 billion Melbourne Arts Precinct Transformation project. Arts Centre Melbourne features a large steel spire with a wrap-around base. It is a complex of distinct venues. Hamer Hall is a separate building and the largest of the venues. The other venues (the State Theatre, Playhouse, Fairfax Studio and The Show Room) are housed in the Theatres Building (under
256-504: A triangle bordered by Gladstone Street, Montague Street and the West Gate Freeway . Southbank was formerly a mostly industrial area, and simply part of the locality of South Melbourne , and the City of South Melbourne . It was transformed into a densely populated district of high rise apartment and office buildings beginning in the early 1990s, as part of an urban renewal program. With
320-518: Is also located in Southbank. The suburb also has its own local newspaper the Southbank Local News , which circulates monthly. The Southbank Promenade, completed in 1990, was designed by architects Denton Corker Marshall, and runs from Princes Bridge along to Queens Bridge Street and Queens Bridge. The Evan Walker Footbridge was also built at this time. The Yarra Promenade further to the west up to
384-522: Is an outdoor arena also managed by Arts Centre Melbourne. It seats 12,000 on the lawn area and 2,150 in reserved seating, and is used for music concerts. The Australian Performing Arts Collection at Arts Centre Melbourne is the foremost and largest specialist performing arts collection in Australia, with over 510,000 items relating to the history of circus, dance, music, opera and theatre in Australia and of Australian performers overseas. Many of Australia's national performing arts companies are represented in
448-671: Is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register . Arts Centre Melbourne's site has long been associated with arts and entertainment; in the early 20th century it was occupied variously by a permanent circus venue, an amusement park, a cinema and a dance hall. The area was a popular venue featuring the Olympia Dancing Place, the Glaciarium Ice-Skating Rink, a Japanese tea house, Snowden Gardens, the Trocadero and
512-783: Is located by the Yarra River and along St Kilda Road , one of the city's main thoroughfares, and extends into the Melbourne Arts Precinct . Major companies regularly performing include Opera Australia , The Australian Ballet , the Melbourne Theatre Company , The Production Company , Victorian Opera , Bell Shakespeare , Bangarra Dance Theatre and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra . Arts Centre Melbourne also hosts many Australian and international performances and production companies. Arts Centre Melbourne
576-494: Is located in the Theatres Building of Arts Centre Melbourne under the spire, and is a 2,079-seat theatre used for opera , ballet and theatre performances. It was opened in 1984, and has one of the largest stages in the World. Playhouse The Playhouse is also located in the Theatres Building of Arts Centre Melbourne and is an 884-seat theatre used for plays and dance performances. It was also opened in 1984. The premiere production
640-714: Is often heavily congested with traffic and limited mainly to off-street multi-storey parking. The West Gate Freeway runs along the south border which has numerous interchanges to Southbank's roads. The main north–south arterials leading into the Melbourne City Centre are Kingsway, Clarendon Street and Queensbridge/Moray Street. Secondary internal main roads include Southbank Boulevard, Sturt Street and Power Street. The main east–west arterials are City Road (east–west) and Normanby Road (which curves south into Whiteman Street). Many smaller roads allow one-way traffic only, to limit congestion. Almost all southbound tramlines run along
704-674: The Australian Music Vault , a permanent exhibition and collaboration with the music industry. Collections began being acquired before the Melbourne Arts Centre was built, officially beginning in 1979. Highlights include collections relating to musicians Nick Cave and Kylie Minogue, as well as the Australian Archives of the Dance , The Australian Ballet , Circus Oz , Juke Magazine , and more. In 1975 an advertisement announced
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#1732847684458768-769: The Castlemaine Brewery . By 1940 businesses included the Allen's factory opposite Flinders Street station (with its famous animated neon sign), the Malvern Star bicycle works, and numerous car sales and maintenance businesses. By 1900 what is now the Victorian Arts Centre had become an entertainment precinct, with the Green Mill dance hall and circus site, and a large cinema and the Glacarium ice skating rink along City Road. In
832-706: The CityLink tunnels, carving a line across Southbank with a large area occupied by off ramps. St Kilda Road was soon lined with a series of important institutions including the Police Barracks, Prince Henry's Hospital and the Victoria Barracks . It also contained amusements such as a circus and dance halls where the Arts Centre is now. In the 1980s the "give the Yarra a go' campaign was intended to create public awareness of
896-542: The Herald & Weekly Times building a few metres up City Road, to 20 City Road, and serves the Southbank community as a church and spiritual centre. The Church can be accessed either from City Rd or from the Southgate Shopping complex. The Queensbridge Precinct began development in 2005 with Freshwater Place . A plaza linked to the north bank and Flinders Street railway station via a pedestrian and cycle path developed on
960-660: The Iwaki Auditorium at the ABC Centre In the early 2000s, a new headquarters for the State Emergency Service was built in City Road. Central Equity was a leader in the development of the area with apartment towers beginning in the mid-1990s, including Riverside Place, The Summit, Sentinel, Victoria Tower, Melbourne Tower and City Tower in the streets behind the waterfront. Central Equity apartments are aimed at both
1024-594: The Melbourne central business district , located within the Cities of Melbourne and Port Phillip local government areas . Southbank recorded a population of 22,631 at the 2021 census . Its southernmost area is considered part of the central business district of the city. Southbank is bordered to the north by the Yarra River , and to the east by St Kilda Road . Southbank's southern and western borders are bounded by Dorcas Street, Kings Way , Market Street, Ferrars Street, and
1088-578: The New Theatre, Melbourne (1936-2000), and the personal papers of theatre director Dot Thompson , were acquired by APAC in 2001. Arts Centre Melbourne Arts Centre Melbourne , originally known as the Victorian Arts Centre and briefly called the Arts Centre , is a performing arts centre consisting of a complex of theatres and concert halls in the Melbourne Arts Precinct , located in
1152-489: The Port Melbourne railway line was built across the area in 1854, the swamps were filled and the land, still much of which was in government hands, was developed as an industrial area. In 1888 the rail line was rebuilt, including the present Sandridge Bridge , and in 1890 Queensbridge was built creating another access to City Road, allowing cable tram access to Port Melbourne. By this time the riverside west of Queensbridge
1216-584: The Port Melbourne railway line was closed and converted to light rail, running up Clarendon Street and into the city, freeing up the land of the raised viaduct, and with the State Government combining surrounding land which it already owed, allowed the development along the Yarra River westward, with the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre in 1996 and Crown Casino in 1997. From the 1970s,
1280-605: The RVIA Urban Design Award in 1991. The Southgate development, which includes a shopping precinct, the Sheraton Towers hotel and new office buildings for the Herald & Weekly Times and IBM were built soon after in stages between 1990 and 1993, and combined with a new Sunday arts and crafts market, attracted tourists to the area. Further buildings including the Esso headquarters were built between 1992 and 1995. In 1987
1344-613: The Spencer Street Bridge was developed along with the Crown Entertainment Complex, completed in 1997, including Queensbridge Square, and running underneath the King Street Bridge . The Southbank art and craft market occurs on the promenade near the Arts Centre every Sunday. The promenade is also home to several buskers and a pavement chalk artists. Southbank has a network of major roads running through it and
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#17328476844581408-504: The 1920s the YMCA was built where City Road joined St Kilda Road, and in the 1960s two high rise office towers were built between City Road and Allen's. Replacing the amusement area, the National Gallery of Victoria was opened in 1968, with the Arts Centre eventually opening in the early 1980s. In 1987 the elevated West Gate Freeway was extended to Kings Way, and by 1999 was extended to join
1472-602: The 2016 Census, the most common response for religion was No Religion at 41.9%. Southbank is home to the Melbourne headquarters of C31 Melbourne , the Australian Broadcasting Corporation including the studios for ABC Radio Melbourne , Radio National , ABC NewsRadio , ABC Classic FM , Triple J , ABV-2 and ABC Australia TV . The Herald and Weekly Times Tower (headquarters of the Herald Sun newspaper)
1536-503: The Arts (and premier) and during the main construction phase from 1979 to 1982 with Norman Lacy as Minister for the Arts (and Minister of Educational Services). After significant public controversy, political inquiry and financial reassessment, the spire was completed by the Minister for the Arts, Norman Lacy , installing the lightning conductor rod at its pinnacle on 20 October 1981. Once
1600-522: The Arts Centre Melbourne was preparing to receive theatrical memorabilia for their museum and were inundated with materials which were looked over by a group of volunteer archivists. The collection was said to be unique at the time of its founding, because it didn't specialise and instead would collect anything to do with the performing arts. Many of the records, along with costume and set designs, audiovisual materials, and other papers pertaining to
1664-521: The Princes Court with a miniature train and water-chute. The Wirth's Circus appeared in 1907 with a 5000-seat auditorium. In the book A Place Across the River , Vicki Fairfax described the lot as a "oddly shaped piece of land" considered a sacred public spot by the locals. During World War II there was a push to establish a new home for the National Gallery of Victoria , along with a state theatre, on
1728-701: The Sandridge Bridge. Having been disused since the closure of the railway line in 1987, it was spared from demolition and was opened to the public on 12 March 2006, just in time for the 2006 Commonwealth Games . The Northbank promenade was completed later in 2006 linking other promenades on the north side of the river. An increasing number of corporations began opening their offices in Southbank. PwC relocated its office from Spring Street to Freshwater Place in 2005. JB Hi-Fi relocated its corporate headquarters from Chadstone Shopping Centre to Southgate in 2020, after its acquisition of The Good Guys . Other names on
1792-602: The Spire, Hamer Hall and the Sidney Myer Music Bowl . Soon after the legislation to establish the trust was passed, Norman Lacy and George Fairfax undertook a study trip to North America and Europe to assess administrative arrangements, educational programs and community initiatives at major performing arts centres in Los Angeles , San Francisco , New York , Washington , Toronto , Ottawa , London and Paris . The result
1856-618: The archives. The Arts Centre presented the Kenneth Myer Medallion for the Performing Arts between 1994 and 2010. In August 2022 Karen Louise Quinlan AM was appointed chief executive of Arts Centre Melbourne, with the new role starting on 3 October 2022. After 18 years of director of Bendigo Art Gallery , Quinlan had headed the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra from December 2018 until September 2022. At
1920-479: The buildings foyer. Now officially known as the Australian Performing Arts Collection (APAC), the collection continues to be expanded, and exhibitions created by or featuring collections from APAC have toured nationally and internationally. In August 2022, incoming Melbourne Arts Centre CEO Karen Quinlan announced plans to further showcase the Australian Performing Arts Collection and loan
1984-565: The buildings were nearly complete, and with the death of Grounds in 1981, Academy Award -winning expatriate set designer John Truscott , was employed to decorate the interiors. His work was constrained only by a requirement to leave elements already constructed, such as Ground's faceted cave-like concert hall interior, to which he applied mineral finishes, and his steel mesh draped ceiling in the State Theatre , to which he added perforated brass balls. During his tenure, Arts Minister Norman Lacy
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2048-456: The central Melbourne suburb of Southbank in Victoria , Australia. It was designed by architect Sir Roy Grounds , the masterplan for the complex (along with the National Gallery of Victoria ) was approved in 1960 and construction began in 1973 following some delays. The complex opened in stages, with Hamer Hall opening in 1982 and the Theatres Building opening in 1984. Arts Centre Melbourne
2112-420: The collection to other Australian institutions. The Australian Performing Arts Collection held exhibitions in the galleries throughout Arts Centre Melbourne (Gallery 1, Gallery 2, St Kilda Road Foyer Gallery and Smorgon Family Plaza). Exhibitions subjects have included AC/DC , Kylie Minogue , Geoffrey Rush , Peter Allen , and Nick Cave and have toured nationally and internationally. Since 2017, they have run
2176-470: The exceptions of the cultural precinct along St Kilda Road, few of the older industrial buildings were identified for retention. Today, Southbank is dominated by high-rise development and is now the most densely populated areas of Melbourne, with a large cluster of apartment towers . It is home to many of Australia's tallest buildings including the tallest measured to its highest floor, the Australia 108 and
2240-504: The former tallest Eureka Tower . It is one of the primary business centres in Greater Melbourne, being the headquarters of Treasury Wine Estates , Crown Resorts , Alumina , Incitec Pivot , The Herald and Weekly Times Pty Ltd, as well as regional offices of many major corporations, in a cluster of towers with over 340,000 square metres of office space in 2008. Southbank Promenade and Southgate Restaurant and Shopping Precinct, on
2304-433: The foundations, including water seepage, meant the structure had to be raised to three storeys above ground. Similarly, budget constraints meant that Grounds' design for the Theatres Building, which included a copper-clad spire, were shelved, and a shortened un-clad design was substituted. This was eventually replaced with the current "full-height" un-clad spire. By the mid-1990s, signs of deterioration became apparent on
2368-406: The ground. The fire burned for about forty minutes, causing only cosmetic damage to the tower. In February 2016, two protesters climbed the spire of the centre to protest Nauru detention centre deportations. They stayed on top of the spire for 11 hours, and disrupted a programmed light show. They unfurled a banner reading #letthemstay . They were not arrested. As of 2022 there are plans for
2432-525: The largest public works projects in Victorian history, which had been undertaken over a period of almost twenty-five years. Arts Centre Melbourne is unusual in that its theatres and concert hall are built largely underground. Hamer Hall, situated closest to the river, was initially planned to be almost entirely underground, thus providing a huge open vista between the theatre spire, the river and Flinders Street railway station . However, construction problems with
2496-565: The list include Fujitsu , and Foster's . In May 2008 the Victorian Government created the new suburb place and name South Wharf , in the western end of Southbank (now encompassing the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre and the Polly Woodside National Trust museum). South Wharf is home to several large apartment buildings, along with a hotel and a large shopping centre precinct. Southbank and South Wharf share
2560-404: The main challenge of the construction was to dry up and retain the waters out of the base, as the construction went as deep as 7 m (23 ft) below water levels. The original spire envisaged by Grounds was 115 m (377 ft) tall, and because of its complexity was one of the first structures in Australia to rely on computer-aided-design (CAD). The gallery was completed in 1968, with
2624-455: The nearby National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), where George Pusak, managing director of Mobil Oil , gave a cheque of $ 300,000 towards the museum's establishment. The NGV also hosted PAM's first major exhibition in 1981, before PAM officially opened in 1982 with early exhibitions on Dame Nellie Melba and Bourke Street . In its first year the museum had 47,000 visitors, four major exhibitions, six smaller exhibitions, and also showed exhibits in
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2688-645: The old Police Barracks had been home to the Victorian College of the Arts , and in the late 1980s an old Malthouse in City Road was converted into the Malthouse Theatre . Other institutions have joined since the 2000s to create the Melbourne Arts Precinct including award-winning buildings for the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art in 2002, the Southbank Theatre , Melbourne Recital Centre , and
2752-465: The opposite bank of the river, the area remained undeveloped for some time, although shipping used berths along the river west of what is now the Queens Bridge . St Kilda Road , connecting to Princes Bridge , was developed as the major thoroughfare to the southern suburbs of Melbourne on the east side, and the track from the shipping piers of Port Melbourne to the city was formalised as City Road. After
2816-403: The owner occupier and rental market with management provided by Melbourne Inner City Management (MICM), a fully owned subsidiary of Central Equity. The 91 floor Eureka Tower was begun in 2002, aimed at being the tallest residential tower in the world and was completed in 2006. As part of the initial construction of Southgate, St Johns Lutheran Church relocated from the land that is now the site of
2880-631: The possibilities of making the south bank of the river a more useful part of the city, rather than the city 'turning its back' on the river. Planning toward this goal began under Planning Minister Evan Walker , and the first projects were the construction of a footbridge, the first such project in the city, now known as the Evan Walker Footbridge, designed by Cocks Carmichael Whitford, and the Southbank Promenade, designed by Denton Corker Marshall , opening in 1990. The two projects together won
2944-437: The project. The concert hall was separated out and placed in the riverbank, and the theatres building expanded above ground, with a latticework spire above. Work began on the theatre site in 1973, but excavations were not completed until 1978, two years later than expected. Work began on the concert hall site in 1976. During the first phase of the project from 1972 until 1979 responsibility was with Rupert Hamer as Minister for
3008-522: The river's edge, with gardens established either side, the western one known as the Snowden Gardens. A wide range of industries and warehousing occupied much of the area, mainly low scale shed-like light industrial buildings, but also heavy engineering works such as Austral Otis elevators on Kings Way (formerly Hannah Street), multi level store houses such as the Tea House on Clarendon Street, as well as
3072-508: The same postcode (3006). Despite being dominated by modern apartments and office towers Southbank has a number of significant retained heritage buildings. Along St Kilda Road they include the 19th Century Victoria Barracks and the attached former Repatriation Commission Outpatient Clinic , the Victorian Arts Centre and National Gallery of Victoria , parts of the Victorian College of the Arts campus. Some individual heritage buildings in
3136-422: The site. The construction was difficult due to the triangular parcel of land the construction was planned on. However, by the 1960s, all the entertainment had left and the lot had turned into an improvised parking for city workers. After many years of discussion, Roy Grounds was chosen as the architect, and his master plan of a gallery and an adjacent theatre under a tall copper spire was approved in 1960. One of
3200-422: The southern bank of the Yarra River , extending to Crown Casino , is one of Melbourne's major entertainment precincts. Southgate's landmark Ophelia sculpture by Deborah Halpern has been used to represent Melbourne in tourism campaigns. Before European settlement, the area now called South Melbourne was a series of low lying swamps inhabited by Aboriginal tribes. With the establishment of Melbourne in 1835 on
3264-554: The spire was inspired by the billowing of a ballerina's tutu and the Eiffel Tower . In early 2008, a wedge-tailed eagle and peregrine falcon were utilised to deter groups of sulphur-crested cockatoos from damaging the spire's electrical fittings and thimble-sized lights. On 1 January 2012 the spire was accidentally set afire by New Year's Eve fireworks. Two sides of the structure were set ablaze by fireworks that apparently discharged improperly, causing flaming debris to fall to
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#17328476844583328-476: The spire). Hamer Hall Hamer Hall (formerly the Melbourne Concert Hall) is a 2,466-seat concert hall – the largest venue in Arts Centre Melbourne's complex, used for orchestra and contemporary music performances. It was opened in 1982 and was later renamed Hamer Hall in honour of Sir Rupert Hamer (the 39th Premier of Victoria ) shortly after his death in 2004. State Theatre The State Theatre
3392-423: The theatres to be built in a second stage. Responsibility for the project lay with the building committee, established in 1956 and chaired by Kenneth Myer from 1965 to 1989. For twenty-five years the committee was a consistent force in the completion of the complex. Actor and film director George Fairfax , having joined the project in 1972, was appointed the first general manager of the building committee and then
3456-582: The time of her appointment to NPGA, Quinlan was also Professor of Practice at the La Trobe Art Institute at Bendigo . Quinlan was made a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2019 Australia Day Honours list, "For significant service to the visual arts as an administrator and gallery curator, and to higher education". Southbank, Victoria Southbank is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne , Victoria, Australia, 1 km (0.62 mi) south of
3520-402: The trust, a position he held until 1989. As a result, Fairfax played an influential role in administration of Arts Centre Melbourne's development. In the early 1970s, due to the expansion of the size of both the theatre and the concert hall required, the addition of a smaller second theatre, and to accommodate difficulties associated with the geology of the site, Roy Grounds completely redesigned
3584-429: The upper spire structure and Arts Centre Melbourne's Trust decided to replace the spire. The new spire was completed in 1996, and reaches 162 m (531 ft), though still based on Grounds' original design. The spire is illuminated with some 6,600 m (21,700 ft) of optic fibre tubing, 150 m (490 ft) of neon tubing on the mast and 14,000 incandescent lamps on the spire's skirt. The metal webbing of
3648-683: The wider Southbank precinct include the 1888 Jones Bond Store (25-43 Southbank Boulevard), the 1888 Tea House on Clarendon Street, the 1885 JH Boyd High School on City Road (now a community centre), and the former Castlemaine Brewery on Queensbridge Street. In the 2021 Census, there were 22,631 people in Southbank. . 33.3% people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were India 9.4%, China (excludes SARs & Taiwan) 8.9%, Colombia 3.9%, Malaysia 3.7% & England 3%. 45.4% spoke only English at home. Language used at home, top responses other than English were, Mandarin 11.6%, Spanish 5.3%, Hindi 4%, Cantonese 3.1% & Indonesian 2.1%. In
3712-600: Was constantly called on to defend the Victorian Arts Centre Trust and its construction program during some highly charged public debates in the parliament. He had to defend the acoustics, the design of the spire, the rejection of the proposed changes to the Concert Hall interiors, the BASS ticketing system of the project, as well as its delays and cost over runs. The Victorian Arts Centre's management and administration
3776-564: Was lined with wharves and shipping sheds and maritime businesses including the Duke & Orr drydock, now housing the Polly Woodside maritime museum (this small area including the Exhibition Centre was separated off as its own suburb South Wharf in 2008). Princes Bridge was rebuilt in 1888, allowing cable trams to reach the southern suburbs along St Kilda Road, and raising the road level at
3840-450: Was opened in 2024. Galleries Arts Centre Melbourne also houses dedicated gallery spaces including newly opened Australian Music Vault (formally Gallery 1 and the George Adams Gallery) on Level 6 (Ground level), Gallery 2 on Level 7, the St Kilda Road Foyer Gallery and the Smorgon Family Plaza, whose walls and central areas are used for exhibitions, in the Theatres Building. The Sidney Myer Music Bowl , situated in nearby Kings Domain ,
3904-457: Was planned as part of the Melbourne Arts Centre while that building was being complete. Roy Grounds had been appointed to design the Melbourne Arts Centre in 1959, and although he is said to have intended for a performing arts museum to be part of the building, he did not include a space for one in his original design brief. Instead, he had included a series of display cabinets around the building's foyers which would house collections. In 1975,
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#17328476844583968-415: Was set up under the Victorian Arts Centre Act 1979 introduced into the Victorian parliament by Minister for the Arts, Norman Lacy. The trustees were appointed by the Governor in Council, on the recommendation of the minister. The trust were given responsibility for the operation and programming of the publicly owned performing arts spaces that make up the Victorian Arts Centre – the Theatres Building beneath
4032-440: Was the Melbourne Theatre Company 's staging of Euripides ' Medea , starring Zoe Caldwell and Patricia Kennedy . Fairfax Studio The Fairfax Studio is also located in the Theatres Building of Arts Centre Melbourne and is a 376-seat theatre. It was also opened in 1984. The Show Room The Show Room is located between the Playhouse and Fairfax Studio within the Theatres Building and is an intimate 150-seat studio theatre. It
4096-413: Was the development of Arts Centre Melbourne's management structure during 1981 and a suite of opening and on-going initiatives. The Concert Hall opened in November 1982, while substantial work remained to be done on the Theatres site. The rest of Arts Centre Melbourne was opened progressively in 1984, with the Theatres building officially opened in October that year. This signified the completion of one of
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