MELBOURNE ATHENAEUM

 

 

The Melbourne Athenaeum began as Melbourne's original Mechanic's Institute in 1842. The three-storey section facing Collins Street has a stuccoed façade with pilasters, label moulds, a bracketed cornice and a parapet with niche containing a statue of Athena and was completed in 1886 to a design by Smith and Johnson.  The building retains evidence of each phase of its development –the 1842 Mechanics Institute, the 1857 two single storey wings extending to Collins Street, the 1872 large hall at the rear, the 1886 Collins Street façade, and the 1924 renovations which remodelled the rear hall as a theatre (cinema) and added the canopy to Collins Street. There are interior features and decorative details throughout the building from various stages of its history, demonstrating its longevity and flexibility. The lift is an early surviving example of the use of the technology. 

The Melbourne Athenaeum is of historical and architectural significance to the State of Victoria. It satisfies the following criterion for inclusion in the VHR: 

Importance to the course, or pattern, of Victoria’s cultural history.

Importance in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a class of cultural places and objects

Special association with the life or works of a person, or group of persons, of importance in Victoria’s history.

 

The Melbourne Athenaeum is historically significant for its role in Victoria’s cultural history. The initial building on this site was opened in 1842, just four years after the establishment of Melbourne, and housed both a library and theatre, uses which continue to this day and define the building within the Melbourne social and cultural sphere. Additionally, it is significant as the meeting place of the Melbourne City Council between 1842 and 1852 prior to construction of its own premises and as one of the first places in Victoria to exhibit films with soundtracks (“talkies”) in 1929.

 

The Melbourne Athenaeum is architecturally significant as a fine and unusually late example of the Renaissance Revival style. The external façade, in its present state, was completed in 1872 and is central to the building's historic and architectural significance. At the top of the façade is a prominent alcove containing the statue of a woman figure, variously described as that of Athena or Minerva, placed there in 1887. The Library, theatres and lift reflect the evolution of the building use over time. Adaptations made during the 1920s are indicative of the introduction of cinema. 

 

The Melbourne Athenaeum is historically significant as the home of the earliest public institution in Victoria being The Melbourne Atheneum Inc, formerly The Melbourne Mechanics' Institute and School of Arts. The organisation has continually operated the building as a place of education, gathering and entertainment since 1842.