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Union Road
Location169-239 & 230-250 UNION ROAD, 99-121 MARIBYRNONG ROAD, and 52A & 52B ST LEONARDS ROAD, ASCOT VALE, MOONEE VALLEY CITY LevelIncluded in Heritage Overlay |
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Statement of Significance
What is significant? The Union Hotel** at 250 Union Road, the former New
Ascot Cinema** at 199 Union Road, and the shops and attached
residences at: - 97-103 & 109-121 Maribyrnong Road Key attributes that contribute to the significance of this precinct include: - the consistency of scale (one or two storey), form, siting (built
to the front and side setback), and original materials and detailing
(face brick or render with iron or tiled hip or gable roof, concealed
behind a parapet) of the contributory buildings Other buildings in the precinct, and non-original alterations (e.g.
shopfronts, cantilevered awnings) or additions to contributory places
are not significant. **Note: These are places of local significance, which each have
an individual place record and statement of significance.
How is it significant?
Why is it significant? It is architecturally significant as a good example of a late
nineteenth century commercial area, which is notable for consistency
of built form and the relatively high degree of integrity to the main
period of development. (Criteria D & E)
The Union Road precinct in Ascot Vale is a commercial area comprising
shops, commercial premises and associated residences built in the period
from c.1885 to c.1930. The precinct comprises single and double storey
Boom-era shops, characterised by masonry construction embellished with
rendered ornamentation, interspersed with representative examples of
inter-war shops including a Moderne row that curves around the
Maribyrnong Road corner. Two particularly ornate buildings - the Union
Hotel and the shop at No.169 - form prominent bookends at either end of
the precinct. The following elements contribute to the significance of
the precinct:
- 169-179, 185-187, 189**,
191-197, 205-209, 213, 213A, 215-239 and 230-240 & 244-248 Union Road
- the high degree
of intactness to the late nineteenth century and early-mid-twentieth
century development dates with contributory buildings that typically
survive with their presentation to the street of the upper facade
being largely intact
- road alignments and allotment patterns
resulting from the nineteenth century subdivision
- the absence of
vehicle accommodation including driveways and crossovers
- the
original or early shopfronts at Nos. 179 and 246-48 Union Road.
The Union Road precinct in Ascot Vale is of local historic,
architectural and aesthetic significance to the City of Moonee Valley.
It is historically significant as a representative example of the
local commercial centres that initially developed in the late
nineteenth century to serve residential areas within walking distance
and later grew to serve a regional catchment as public transport links
were improved by the mid-twentieth century. The scale of the centre
and the extent to which the key phases of development are apparent
illustrates its importance as one of the key shopping centres in the
municipality for most of the twentieth century. (Criteria A & D)
Group
Commercial
Category
Commercial Precinct