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SOUTHBANK BOULEVARD RESERVE

Location

SOUTHBANK BOULEVARD AND STURT STREET AND MOORE STREET SOUTHBANK, MELBOURNE CITY

Level

Heritage Inventory Site

Statement of Significance

During the period of earlycolonisation ofMelbourne, the Southbank region was used as an open camping space for indigenous people and colonial settlers alike, however from the gold rush onwards, Southbank's development took on a distinctly industrial character. Aside from the use of land west of St Kilda Road as a Military Barracks, many leaders of the township considered the area largely unfit for human habitation. As the Surveyor-General stated in 1859:

".it is indispensably necessary for the healthy state.of the whole city that the low-lying land lying to the west of the Barracks should be kept free from human habitation."

Historic plans of the area prior to 1880 all suggest that the land between St Kilda Road and City Road contained very few buildings, and those that were there were largely associated with early industry. A range of traders occupied leaseholds on crown land in the Southbank area that was not listed for sale until the 1880s.

The industries carried out in this area were of a diverse nature, dealing in "agricultural, pumping, mining, sawing, and manufacturing machinery, glass, china, furniture, ironmongery" amongst others.

Shipbuilders and engineers also worked on this southern bank of the river. These industrial ventures were necessarily linked to the economic fortunes of the area. The area experienced a period of "hothouse expansion" during the economic boom following the gold rush, but fell into decline towards the end of the 19th century.

Within the immediate areas of works, the earliest plan that provides indication of structures is the 1895 Melbourne Metropolitan Board of Works (MMBW) plan 516 (Figure 2). This indicates the location to the west of Nolan St (now part of Southbank Boulevard) of an Engineering Works, with associated workshops, a series of tracks, for travelling cranes and trams. An overlay of the 1895 MMBW plan on Nearmap indicates the location of the historic features in relation to the modern street layout.

Group

Manufacturing and Processing

Category

Other - Manufacturing & Processing