tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11287448169845315552024-03-06T04:03:09.638+11:00St Kilda JunctionA Brief History and Photographic Journalstkildajunctionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10100766936112459088noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128744816984531555.post-82765106413830738862014-01-15T19:34:00.000+11:002014-02-20T13:10:16.521+11:00The Early Years (1840s-1890s)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b style="text-align: justify;">From the beginning</b><span style="text-align: justify;">, St Kilda Junction was a gateway to St Kilda and the surrounding area. It's early life from the 1840s was a time of steady but dramatic change. The Junction played a pivotal roll in the settlement and development of the St Kilda village and the transformation of the environment from a natural to an urban landscape.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOWmwplLwWHkwnpRDoPbQRb3FT5_-SplE6yAY8raSEEm_T7hxTEBJLh7q9iRmlQI1Ohq-3Be0ypqYYHSqCwPHKm6neBnJy3pnG4ruxU-gZVDW9BYdhNUF8Yzyu0zUqrMDPJpBjJijoalo/s1600/Junction-1862+%2528Barkley+and+Princes+Sts%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOWmwplLwWHkwnpRDoPbQRb3FT5_-SplE6yAY8raSEEm_T7hxTEBJLh7q9iRmlQI1Ohq-3Be0ypqYYHSqCwPHKm6neBnJy3pnG4ruxU-gZVDW9BYdhNUF8Yzyu0zUqrMDPJpBjJijoalo/s1600/Junction-1862+%2528Barkley+and+Princes+Sts%2529.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Looking from the Junction towards Barkley and Princes Streets, this view illustrates the built environment beginning to encroach on the natural landscape. (1862)</b></td></tr>
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When the European settlers first arrived they did not find a pristine landscape devoid of people. The Yalukit-willam (clan of the 'Boon wurrung' people) and their predecessors had inhabited the land for thousands of years. The territory of the Boon wurrun when the first settlers arrived extended over the Mornington Peninsula the catchment area of Western Port Bay and the coast strip of Port Phillip Bay. The St Kilda and Junction area however was in the specific territory of the Yalukit-willam clan. The Yalukit-willam clan were the inheritors of a society and cultural memory that was older than the landscape they inhabited and older than the coastal beeches, surrounding wetlands and 'park-like' environs that first attracted the settlers to the St Kilda area. This natural but worked landscape was exploited, manipulated and managed by the Yalukit-willam for countless generations. The balanced interaction between the Yalukit-willam and their environments had achieved a level of sustainability and sophistication that was beyond the appreciation of most of the new settlers, however, the impact of the new settlers on the Yalukit-willam was completely devastating.</div>
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The first European settlers recorded piles of shells left by the Boon wurrun people (presumably the Yalukit-willam clan) on the St Kilda foreshore and corroborees near the vicinity of the future St Kilda Junction. The first census of the original inhabitants made in 1839 recorded only eighty-nine Boon wurrun people by 1863 there were only eleven.<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>1</b></span> The collapse of the Boon wurrun society and population is a sorrowful legacy of the European settlement. A relict and remainder of these first people still survives at the Junction; an old Corroboree Tree (river red gum) which stands vigilance in memory of the first people. The Victorian Field Naturalists' Club in the early 1950s lobbied for the tree's protection and to raise Melbourne’s aware of its significance. In July 1952 the St Kilda City Council had a plaque placed at the tree which stated: 'Aborigines of early settlement days congregated and held their ceremonies under and in the vicinity of this tree'.<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">2</span></b> A lonely reminder of that the settlement of St Kilda was for the Yalukit-willam clan and all of the Boon wurrun people, a devastating event.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEQ3Ly4ap_fIwTbwueFhlolgybBN4PqeM0JppEDXg73LLtjg8ZPK7PQ7PRxA3dML-CHoH-PE2Cu63B2kOPzdrWmnB5GLO0jXhXReG11qY9CufXwyeD64FwrqtBKGowRS3CimcqOeOd-9M/s1600/2012-10-20+12.43.25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Corroboree Tree (River Red Gum). (2012)" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEQ3Ly4ap_fIwTbwueFhlolgybBN4PqeM0JppEDXg73LLtjg8ZPK7PQ7PRxA3dML-CHoH-PE2Cu63B2kOPzdrWmnB5GLO0jXhXReG11qY9CufXwyeD64FwrqtBKGowRS3CimcqOeOd-9M/s640/2012-10-20+12.43.25.jpg" height="640" title="" width="478" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-size: small; text-align: justify;">Corroboree Tree (River Red Gum). (2012)</b></td></tr>
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<span style="text-align: justify;">By 1847, a lot of clearing had taken place but there were still significant areas of native vegetation; there were a few small houses and some larger residences in the St Kilda area.</span><span style="font-size: x-small; text-align: justify;"><b>3</b></span><span style="text-align: justify;"> The Junction Hotel was an early addition to the Junction area, opening for business in 1853.</span><span style="font-size: x-small; text-align: justify;"><b>4</b></span><span style="text-align: justify;"> This hotel located in its prominent position was destined to be a local icon for generations.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigSM_HsimDlF-iL3yowAh22R-622rXkScJd76uJO40ElTCaCCNK2Lx1TCWcDnMLa3Ty81_8xlyIEsLC9oR_q26bCchtg-T4XQloX8Yl3HtiFeY6YJkOL7zDReeLQaY2wgZ9-aVOiOTfTY/s1600/1850s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Looking south the early Junction Hotel is in the centre and the Corner Hotel is on the right. This is before the Junction Hotel was extensively rebuilt. (1850s)" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigSM_HsimDlF-iL3yowAh22R-622rXkScJd76uJO40ElTCaCCNK2Lx1TCWcDnMLa3Ty81_8xlyIEsLC9oR_q26bCchtg-T4XQloX8Yl3HtiFeY6YJkOL7zDReeLQaY2wgZ9-aVOiOTfTY/s1600/1850s.jpg" height="281" title="Looking south the early Junction Hotel is in the centre and the Corner Hotel is on the right. This is before the Junction Hotel was extensively rebuilt. (1850s)" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Looking south the early Junction Hotel is in the centre and the Corner Hotel is on the right. This is before the Junction Hotel was extensively rebuilt. (1850s)</b></td></tr>
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The discovery of gold in 1851 resulted in an explosion of population as people from all over the world flocked to Victoria seeking their fortune. Gold changed everything in Victoria and St Kilda was no different, rapid change occurred in the area and the Junction was an artery feeding this change. There was a demand for new land, a need to escape the squalidness of Melbourne, a desire for clean fresh ‘healthy’ seaside air as well the commercial opportunity to make money. The 1850s and 1860s saw the accelerated development of urban infrastructure and institutions in the St Kilda area and the Junction was a focal point for this development. The natural environment was rapidly giving way to an urban landscape. A footpath was constructed from The Junction Hotel along the South side of Fitzroy Street in 1855 no doubt for the convenience of pedestrians. Substantial buildings appeared adjacent to the Junction and after years of agitation, in 1858 a police station opened at the Junction. The desire for a police presence gives some indication of a community concern over issues of law and order. Law and order was to be a reoccurring issue associated with the Junction. The police station also served as a location for he first St Kilda Council meetings held in 1857.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx8G4_TgFgNLpiS9B4gY6BQZmN9yIZpCkDrIe32gPSzPh280Q5UBP5Yk1X3JwSKsoQjcjG2rDAfosdfJA0vx6yz7ItmOWGQKPx9-LZ94uzDl8A284VD_2cXcmIofqp2taVSNQKAEqIkyU/s1600/Junction-1858.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Looking from the Junction towards St Kilda and Punt Roads, 1858." border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx8G4_TgFgNLpiS9B4gY6BQZmN9yIZpCkDrIe32gPSzPh280Q5UBP5Yk1X3JwSKsoQjcjG2rDAfosdfJA0vx6yz7ItmOWGQKPx9-LZ94uzDl8A284VD_2cXcmIofqp2taVSNQKAEqIkyU/s640/Junction-1858.jpg" height="395" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Looking from the Junction towards St Kilda and Punt Roads. (1858)<br />The Police Station can seen located on the triangular intersection.</span></b></td></tr>
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The Junction Hotel was a central locality for community activity. It provided entertainment such musical and vocal performances, a gathering place for the locals congregate and gossip and an opportunity for both locals and travellers to quench their thirst with an ale or two (or even more). The hotel also provided a premises for more formal community meetings and was the venue for the local literary club. Meetings for the literary club were in the reading room known as ‘<i>The Athenaeum, St Kilda</i>’.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqhlw_1MvorGskZDOXlB6A-uzyHI5Xjj9fuccL_XkXD2IxmkHiflSA92JQVeSRm4DPEt9rax9zU1zNPtgBMwdLdl0vmRsW5KY31uNLW6c_GGv-7JI6T7VCkuKwBr4fVYJIRPZfx_k8sl8/s1600/1880-89.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="The Junction Hotel was a St Kilda icon up until its demolition in the early 1970s. (1890s)" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqhlw_1MvorGskZDOXlB6A-uzyHI5Xjj9fuccL_XkXD2IxmkHiflSA92JQVeSRm4DPEt9rax9zU1zNPtgBMwdLdl0vmRsW5KY31uNLW6c_GGv-7JI6T7VCkuKwBr4fVYJIRPZfx_k8sl8/s1600/1880-89.jpg" height="512" title="The Junction Hotel was a St Kilda icon up until its demolition in the early 1970s. (1890s)" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>The Junction Hotel was a St Kilda icon up until its demolition in the early 1970s. (1890s)</b><br />
From the 1840s to the 1890s saw a transformation of the landscape from natural to urban.<br />
The establishment and rebuilding of the Junction Hotel is a good illustration of this change.<br />
This photograph shows a rebuilt Junction Hotel, larger and grander than its processor in conjunction with the new transport technology of the time, a cable tram, running down High Street and Barkley Street on the left.</td></tr>
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In the 1850s, a major infrastructure issue at this time was the supply of fresh water and was a major concern to local residents. In the beginning residents had to make do with capturing rain water which was supplemented with water brought in barrels from the Yarra River, at high prices which caused a lot of dissatisfaction. In 1855, the North corner of St Kilda Junction became the location for a water fountain and tank. This improved reliability but did not resolve community dissatisfaction at the cost due to the prices charged by the managing company. St Kilda eventually got a more satisfactory source of water but in the 1850s the Junction was known as much for its association with water supply as it was as a transport intersection.<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>5</b></span></div>
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By the 1860s, St Kilda was a prestigious destination with many elegant homes.<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">6</span></b> Between 1870 and 1890, the population of St Kilda dramatically increased and the land boom of the 1880s resulted in more development and the improvement of infrastructure. St Kilda Junction became a bustling intersection at the end of St Kilda Road, which was transforming into a grand boulevard linking the fashionable Fitzroy Street and Esplanade of St Kilda and the shopping strip of High Street.<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>7 </b></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwFDGJ8qaJM5KBUdCPHobdR-cW2aXX9JDZ5YF9qRiFZ8EXSNHcFJIxZR7zcPnyfhCpnxLmeb3JdqAYMCnd99mnLOS3WaODnIRxavF3ht_z7R6rbBfTGSZ9BLC8bYV9OsyIcmkxSEpBL_Q/s1600/1905+Cable+Tram+running+the+St+Kilda+line.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Cable Tram running on the St Kilda line. (1905)" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwFDGJ8qaJM5KBUdCPHobdR-cW2aXX9JDZ5YF9qRiFZ8EXSNHcFJIxZR7zcPnyfhCpnxLmeb3JdqAYMCnd99mnLOS3WaODnIRxavF3ht_z7R6rbBfTGSZ9BLC8bYV9OsyIcmkxSEpBL_Q/s1600/1905+Cable+Tram+running+the+St+Kilda+line.jpg" height="480" title="Cable Tram running on the St Kilda line. (1905)" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Cable Tram running on the St Kilda line. (1905)</b></td></tr>
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Cable trams introduced in the late 1880s ran from the Central Business District down St Kilda Road to the Junction and then branched out to Fitzroy, High and Wellington Streets. The cable trams helped bring new range of visitors from other parts of Melbourne and assisted in transforming St Kilda from an elitist address to a more middle and working class holiday destination.<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>8</b></span></div>
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The 1890s Melbourne and Victoria was hit hard by a period of economic depression. Many of the wealthy families of St Kilda lost much if not all of their fortunes. Many mansions converted to boarding houses; however, generally these were not the grim and over crowded boarding houses of the mid to late twentieth century but rather ‘upper class’ stylish guesthouses.<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">9 </span></b>St Kilda’s reputation as an elite residential address began to diminish in this period but it was still a desired location by many Melbournians to live and visit and the Junction played it part in these changes.</div>
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<b>1. </b>A. Moo, <i>St. Kilda: a general history</i>, St Kilda, 1991, p. 1</div>
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<b>2.</b> L. A. Longmire, <i>The History of St Kilda: Volume 3 The Show Goes On: 1930 to July 1983, </i>Hawthorn, 1989, pp. 161-162.</div>
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<b>3. </b>J. B. Cooper, <i>The History of St Kilda: Volumes 1 & 2 From Its First Settlement To A City: 1840 to 1930,</i> Melbourne, 1931, Volume 1, p. 45.</div>
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<b>4. </b>B. Aizen, <i>Pots, Punks and Punters: a History of the Hotels of St Kilda and South Melbourne</i>, St Kilda Historical Series no. 5, Balaclava, 2004, pp. 31-32.</div>
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<b>5. </b>J. B. Cooper, <i>The History of St Kilda: Volumes 1 & 2 From Its First Settlement To A City: 1840 to 1930</i>, Melbourne, 1931, Volume 1, pp. 50, 70, 120-122, 247, 249.</div>
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<b>6.</b> A. M. Longmire, <i>The History of St Kilda: Volume 3 The Show Goes On: 1930 to July 1983</i>, Hawthorn, 1989, p. ix.</div>
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<b>7. </b>J. B. Cooper, <i>The History of St Kilda: Volumes 1 & 2 From Its First Settlement To A City: 1840 to 1930</i>, Melbourne, 1931, Volume 1, p. 142.</div>
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<b>8. </b>S. O’Hanlon, 'Boarding Houses in Melbourne: A Twentieth Century History', <i>Parity</i>, vol. 22, Issue 5, June, 2009, pp. 11.<br />
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<b>9.</b> A. M Longmire, <i>The History of St Kilda: Volume 3 The Show Goes On: 1930 to July 198</i>3, Hawthorn, 1989, p. ix.</div>
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stkildajunctionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10100766936112459088noreply@blogger.com2St Kilda Junction/St Kilda Rd, St Kilda VIC 3182, Australia-37.8552887 144.98245599999996-63.1494147 103.67386199999996 -12.561162700000004 -173.70895000000007tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128744816984531555.post-23411028764243297002014-01-15T18:53:00.000+11:002014-03-13T01:24:04.663+11:00Into Decline (1900s-1940s)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;"><b>St Kilda Junction by the 1900s</b> had long been transformed into an urban environment. The smell of eucalyptus after rain, the sounds of squarking flocks of water birds flying over head and the sight a mobs of kangaroos moving through the open woodlands and grass lands of the early 1840s was replaced by a network of road and structures ever increasing in size and complexity, the sound of rattling of cable trams and other traffic and the air was soon to be dominated by the smell of gasoline.</div>
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The Junction at the end of the Nineteenth-century had grown and taken on an imperious persona, at-least when the occasion required it. In 1901 a large crowd gathered at the Junction to welcome the Duke and Duchess of York who landed at St Kilda pier and made their way along Fitzroy Street to the Junction where there was a large arch welcoming the royal couple.<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">1</span></b> Before regular air transportation many visitors; royals, new governors and other dignitaries or celebrities landed at St Kilda pier. From St pier important visitors usually made their way in a procession to St Kilda Junction, then along St Kilda Road, usually ending at the Melbourne Town Hall or to Government House. In this period the Junction could be a place where people could show their loyalty to ‘<i>queen and country</i>’, capture a glimpse of the famous as they passed by, reveal in the associated pageantry and enjoy some time off from the normal routine of life.<br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWQ5fdBiIGLKJgzYZ6fGf4l2pFXh4Wchmv0li6Uqmylu1cpXPl51UXjSOuMiYHI2Z6tBCaQi8tLuG3V2_Ibtsz3C13jItC_y1KmZuh85VUYjj1rOgxaE0o2ArVr5dXjmtutno-zfQ-wSY/s1600/1901B.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="This arch was erected over the Junction to celebrate the visit of the Duke and Duchess of York. (1901)" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWQ5fdBiIGLKJgzYZ6fGf4l2pFXh4Wchmv0li6Uqmylu1cpXPl51UXjSOuMiYHI2Z6tBCaQi8tLuG3V2_Ibtsz3C13jItC_y1KmZuh85VUYjj1rOgxaE0o2ArVr5dXjmtutno-zfQ-wSY/s1600/1901B.jpg" height="472" title="This arch was erected over the Junction to celebrate the visit of the Duke and Duchess of York. (1901)" width="640"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>This arch was erected over the Junction to celebrate the visit of the Duke and Duchess of York. (1901)</b></td></tr>
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<span style="text-align: left;">In 1912 Luna Park opened near the Esplanade by 1923 the big dipper was added. Luna Park when it opened was the newest, greatest and best amusement park in the world.</span><b style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">2 </span></b><span style="text-align: left;">St Kilda offered a lot for locals and visitors a like, a fun park, beaches, theatres, dance halls, and sea baths. St Kilda as a tourist designation was strongly promoted as can be seen in publications such as </span><i style="text-align: left;">St Kilda by the Sea: 1915-16 annual</i><span style="text-align: left;">.</span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='420' height='349' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/kZvOntsGatk?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<span class="yt-ui-ellipsis-wrapper" data-original-html="St Kilda Esplanade circa 1912
" style="border: 0px; display: block; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Taken from <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZvOntsGatk">YouTube</a>, this is a short video of St Kilda Esplanade. (circa 1912)</span></b></span><br>
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Many of the visitors were channelled to the facilities of St Kilda via the Junction.<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>3 </b></span>St Kilda Junction continued to be a busy intersection through the first decades of the Twentieth-century.<br>
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Advances in mass transit technology and the growing population which has beginning to strain the cable tram system resulted in the gradual replacement of cable trams the newer and more efficient technology of electric trams.<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">4 </span></b>The conversion began on the 29 August 1925 with the closure of the first cable tram line, the Windsor to St Kilda Esplanade.<br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjamAuWtb9xjrEE9PxT9TZ1-W9Guj0Q946LGGB-Up3ct3y-8DbzCtOoTEX3bVzGroXUn7RILIMNbOfm-qUNwpkHfxYNnDk4pxyk-k-b0WXQnGT-Yob93GpaA46RtlpOTM6dmMYOrNvRy1o/s1600/1925.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Installing new tracks for the electric trams at St Kilda Junction circa 1925" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjamAuWtb9xjrEE9PxT9TZ1-W9Guj0Q946LGGB-Up3ct3y-8DbzCtOoTEX3bVzGroXUn7RILIMNbOfm-qUNwpkHfxYNnDk4pxyk-k-b0WXQnGT-Yob93GpaA46RtlpOTM6dmMYOrNvRy1o/s400/1925.jpg" height="300" title="" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Installing new tracks for the electric trams at St Kilda Junction, <br>Wellington Street is in the background. (1925)</b></td></tr>
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It was reported in <i>The Argue</i> newspaper (Saturday, 29 August 1925) that work would commence on the Monday and was estimated to take seven months.<span style="font-size: x-small; font-weight: bold;">5</span><br>
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In 1929 a <i>'crows-nest' </i>control box was installed at the Junction on the corner of Wellington Street to better control the passing trams.<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">6</span></b> This same control box is now housed in the Melbourne Tram Museum.<br>
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The conversion of the whole cable system to electricity continued until 1940 when the last cable tram line was finally closed. The Windsor to St Kilda Esplanade line ran down Wellington Street, through the Junction and into Fitzroy Street and then the Esplanade.<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">7</span></b><br>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjluBPd7X8aNb1uEGE0kNlqrGRXnLTqsvQi9sbCbsY6ej5B4FNRXsA2wmV_rb1KVXtVhBeYXK3HdanxlQYLSMJhJEtgqxkrd9S32AbUcIMSipY18Hynx_MiAu2_dLOvhVagMLpPXp8m0Qs/s1600/St+Kilda+Junction+post+29-08-1925+(cable+tram+line+removal).png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="A aerial photograph of St Kilda Junction looking east, the conversion of the Wellington Street cable tram line is evident, 1925" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjluBPd7X8aNb1uEGE0kNlqrGRXnLTqsvQi9sbCbsY6ej5B4FNRXsA2wmV_rb1KVXtVhBeYXK3HdanxlQYLSMJhJEtgqxkrd9S32AbUcIMSipY18Hynx_MiAu2_dLOvhVagMLpPXp8m0Qs/s640/St+Kilda+Junction+post+29-08-1925+(cable+tram+line+removal).png" height="440" title="" width="640"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>A aerial photograph of St Kilda Junction looking east, </b><br>
<b>the conversion of the Wellington Street cable tram line is evident. (1925)</b></td></tr>
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The conversion of the whole cable system to electricity continued until 1940 when the last cable tram line was finally closed. The Windsor to St Kilda Esplanade line ran down Wellington Street, through the Junction and into Fitzroy Street and then the Esplanade.<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">7</span></b><br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBmFsFVhewUokTXpnALmuYYnQi6iKmE3vjf-J7s2OqDM_Ji2qPN6GPwK6MmN0U9g_e5Fod3iUA7nng3xs1zYra_DZ66NFOC6aOzFZW6vaZMBJaTAwNLKJhzhRBHnhvJaZ8mk2Mvs7x5O8/s1600/Junction-1920s-.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Cable tram at St Kilda Junction looking towards St Kilda Road circa early 1920s" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBmFsFVhewUokTXpnALmuYYnQi6iKmE3vjf-J7s2OqDM_Ji2qPN6GPwK6MmN0U9g_e5Fod3iUA7nng3xs1zYra_DZ66NFOC6aOzFZW6vaZMBJaTAwNLKJhzhRBHnhvJaZ8mk2Mvs7x5O8/s640/Junction-1920s-.jpg" height="429" title="" width="640"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Cable tram at St Kilda Junction looking towards St Kilda Road, cable trams, cars, horse and carts and pedestrians all competed for use of the Junction. (circa early 1920s)</b></span></td></tr>
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Also in 1925 the Metropolitan Town Planning Commission published its first report which identified St Kilda Junction as at 'bottleneck'. The report proposed the widening Wellington and High Streets to elevate the strain on the Junction caused by the demands of increasing traffic (of multiple types).<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>8 </b></span>The Junction was also developing reputation at this time not only as a 'traffic bottleneck' but also as location to obtain ‘sly grog’, the popularity of this illicit beverage made 'making, distribution, selling and buying, not to mention drinking off ' almost a Melbournian institution.<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">9</span></b> In the minds of many the Junction became readily associated with the fame, notoriety and demand for 'sly grog'<b style="font-size: small;">.</b> The Junction's reputation was beginning to tarnish. </div>
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In the 1930s the Great Depression exacerbated the fading fortunes of St Kilda and put stop to many of the plans for Melbourne proposed by the Metropolitan Town Planning Commission. St Kilda became an epicentre for many of Melbourne’s social problems, crime, prostitution and alcohol and drug abuse. Cocaine could be bought around St Kilda Junction at this time and it was a known haunt for female prostitutes.<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">10</span></b> Managing the traffic of the Junction was also an issue in the 1930s as identified by Anne Longmire who states, ‘police could not continuously man the Junction because of a lack of personnel … the Council constructed a safety zone at the Junction in 1935. … Congestion was relieved somewhat in November 1936 when gates, which blocked the road through Albert Park, were left open after sunset in order to improve access to the city … ’. Traffic lights were first installed at the Junction in 1939 but agitation had begun about solving the traffic bottleneck created by St Kilda Road running into the narrower High Street.<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>11 </b></span><br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGfXDnuVZNkA_508sNY_qFhyAg8oi6GwTCgqp8nOYuw5WchFQUIkOiEjF4a-N8vNsOSsZKTi8z5zoFs70Do9amY1QDlxX-cq4BeM9gcVuCtOj2IjoaHcJdrOMaaQWz0v1pPM7q-eGNBsQ/s1600/1934ca.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="St Kilda Junction, in the background is the Junction Petrol Station which was a feature of the Junction for many years. (circa 1934)" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGfXDnuVZNkA_508sNY_qFhyAg8oi6GwTCgqp8nOYuw5WchFQUIkOiEjF4a-N8vNsOSsZKTi8z5zoFs70Do9amY1QDlxX-cq4BeM9gcVuCtOj2IjoaHcJdrOMaaQWz0v1pPM7q-eGNBsQ/s1600/1934ca.jpg" height="418" title="St Kilda Junction, in the background is the Junction Petrol Station which was a feature of the Junction for many years. (circa 1934)" width="640"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>St Kilda Junction, in</b><b> the background is the Junction Petrol Station </b><br>
<b>which was a feature of the Junction for many years. </b><b> (circa 1934)</b></td></tr>
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During the Second World War the Junction was packed with American service personnel heading towards St Kilda. St Kilda was favoured destination of the service men, its dance halls, theatres, pubs, gambling and ‘working’ girls being major attractions.<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">12</span></b> The first half of twentieth century saw the emergence of the Junction’s most enduring characteristics; congested traffic. Trams, horse and carts, cars, trucks and pedestrians; all competing for access.</div>
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<b>1. </b>J. B Cooper, T<i>he History of St Kilda: Volumes 1 & 2 From Its First Settlement To A City: 1840 to 1930</i>, Melbourne, 1931, Volume 2, pp. 299-300.<br>
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<b>2.</b> A. M. Longmire, <i>The History of St Kilda: Volume 3 The Show Goes On: 1930 to July 1983</i>, Hawthorn, 1989, p. xi.<br>
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<b>3.</b> <i>Visitors’ and Tourist Guide to St Kilda by the Sea: Train and Tram – Railway Service in St Kilda by the Sea 1915-16 Annual</i>, Prahran, 1915, pp. 161-168.<br>
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<b>4. </b>State Library of Victoria, 1925 photograph of tram track reconstruction at St Kilda Junction. The photograph shows the installation of tracks for electric trams, which indicates the period when the Junction was converted from cable trams to electric trams. This was a major change in public transport technology that was occurring across Melbourne between 1924 and 1940.
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<b>5. '</b>St. Kilda Road Trams, conversion of cable line, Work begins on Monday', <i>The Argus</i>, Saturday August 29, 1925, p. 31.<br>
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6. 'Tramway "Crows-Nest", <i>The Argus</i>, Wednesday March 6, 1929, p. 5.<br>
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<b>7. </b>Yarra Trams, Melbourne Trams, <i>Website</i>, at <a href="http://www.yarratrams.com.au/about-us/our-history/trams-in-melbourne/">http://www.yarratrams.com.au/about-us/our-history/trams-in-melbourne/</a>, assessed 6 January 2014</div>
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<b>8.</b> Melbourne Metropolitan Town Planning Commission, <i>Melbourne: First Report of the Metropolitan Town Planning Commission,</i> 1925, p. 38.</div>
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<b>9. </b>‘Sly Grog at Junction', <i>The Age</i>, Thursday 26 February 1926, p. 26.<br>
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<b>10. </b>Longmire, pp. 18-21.</div>
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<b>11. </b>ibid. p. 12.<br>
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<b>12.</b> J. Rowe, <i>Street Walking Blues: Sex work, St Kilda and the Streets</i>, Melbourne, 2006, pp. 4-5.</div>
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stkildajunctionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10100766936112459088noreply@blogger.com0St Kilda Junction/St Kilda Rd, St Kilda VIC 3182, Australia-37.8552887 144.98245599999996-37.880360200000005 144.94211549999994 -37.8302172 145.02279649999997tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128744816984531555.post-18269014033219666912014-01-15T18:37:00.000+11:002014-03-13T01:23:32.911+11:00Car is King - Almost (1950s-1970s)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div style="text-align: justify;"><b style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">A cursory survey</b><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"> of newspaper articles suggests that the Junction was a dangerous place with many accidents and fatalities reported.</span><b style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">1</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"> Traffic management issues continued to be associated with the Junction into the 1950s as road traffic, trams and pedestrians continued to compete for use of the Junction. However, in 1950 the State Government indicated any major reshaping of St Kilda Junction was a long way off, the targeted shops and houses were considered too valuable at the time for demolition and the need to deal with the pressures of housing and urban slums was seen as a higher priority.</span><b style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">2</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"> This did not stop the agitation for change however, or deter multiple plans by various segments of the community for a reshaping and</span><i style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"> 'proved'</i><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"> Junction, such as the plan shown below proposed by the Town and Country Planning Association in 1950.</span><b style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">3</span></b><br>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7MWdcFaGmc7whdx1JHf8NalPd4gN9-DfDaqVWUAC67LWbX1VL0Y3IdCSFbMOOBWyLFiRQ6YrAEW2rI6_cDagN7Wrma_1m8_wPfy0NZkVIHNbXWXzZs_K1uRyz7qLPVBnzAZWXJiUVPqs/s1600/1950+St+Kilda+Junction+ReDesign.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Town and Country Planning Association's 1950 plan to redevelop St Kilda Junction" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7MWdcFaGmc7whdx1JHf8NalPd4gN9-DfDaqVWUAC67LWbX1VL0Y3IdCSFbMOOBWyLFiRQ6YrAEW2rI6_cDagN7Wrma_1m8_wPfy0NZkVIHNbXWXzZs_K1uRyz7qLPVBnzAZWXJiUVPqs/s640/1950+St+Kilda+Junction+ReDesign.jpg" height="640" title="" width="374"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Developed by the Town and Country Planning Association and released in 1950</b><br>
<b> this plan shows projected rows of flats along High St and</b><br>
<b>a proposed garden 'island' at the Junction.</b></td></tr>
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In 1953 a range of traffic alteration such as additional traffic lights and traffic diversion through specific streets tried to improve the traffic congestion however, this was only a stopgap measure.<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">4 </span></b>The following year the 1954 Melbourne Metropolitan Planning Scheme Report identified St Kilda Junction as needing an upgrade due to the growth of Melbourne’s population and the associated traffic. It noted that road communication to the southern suburbs made it impossible to avoid the Junction and that peak hour traffic would become very heavy. The report suggested a roundabout as an immediate solution to be followed more substantive road works when warranted.<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">5</span></b> The report’s proposed changes to the Junction help illustrate how changes in population size and mobility, combined with rising commuter expectations for reduced travel times have influenced urban design and planning. The proposed changes also reveal how the needs and amenity of one section of society can have precedence over the needs and amenity of a different section. For example, the needs of commuters to outer suburbs compared the needs of local St Kilda residents and pedestrians.</div>
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During the mid-1950s the St Kilda City Council and the State Government were locked in bureaucratic wrangling over the Junction and whether to ‘roundabout’ or ‘not roundabout’ and who was going to pay for it. Anne Longmire reports that the Country Roads Board experimented by installing a temporary roundabout at the Junction in April 1955. It seems it was an immediate success and Longmire notes that the Herald on the 19 April reported, ‘on the day of it's opening, peak traffic flowed through much more quickly and there was only one accident when two cars driven by New Australians collided’. It seems this was not to last as Longmire went on to state ‘that the roundabout was soon damaged, with the timber marking the traffic lanes splintered and flattened, and the sandbags burst but neither the State Government nor the St. Kilda City Council would finance its repair’.<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">6</span></b></div>
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St Kilda City Council removed the roundabout in February 1956 after arguments with the Government over financing.<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">7</span></b> Some motorists observed the old roundabout route and others tried to take a more direct route resulting in chaos.<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">8</span></b> <i>The Argus</i> newspaper responded to the removal of the roundabout on the 22 February stating ‘Jungle Law Is Back’ and went on to say that ‘jungle law returned to St Kilda Junction in the peak hour last night. And is expected to be worse today’.<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>9 </b></span>Premier Bolte directed the Country Roads Board to restore the roundabout on 23 February 1956. However, the Premier stated it was to be temporary until a more permanent structure was in place.<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">10 </span></b>Anne Longmire reports the structure was soon labelled a paddling pool because it was undrained. The roundabout was described as ‘a filthy pile of split sandbags, smashed bottles, rocks and scraps of tin and wire’ by October 1956 and it was in such a disgraceful condition the St. Kilda Boy Scouts volunteered to clean it prior to the Olympic Games.<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">11</span></b> The pressure was on for some more permanent solution to the Junction’s traffic problems.<br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKJKVeMFqoP8ir5va9BgApVOxTsDP0hcCZiYUAwO6Fs4HM6J-1xyVVhw9J3AFnmJWpl6EhI_RTZ6Cq8mLfZ5mvI74XvTnNcy2kji9PiRUNgLGdRoKna7rxO4pkxtd98P7cGO3iftAGQjs/s1600/1962+From+Scott+Brodie,+Coniston+Designs).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Traffic accident and traffic jostling through the roundabout at St Kilda Junction. (1962)" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKJKVeMFqoP8ir5va9BgApVOxTsDP0hcCZiYUAwO6Fs4HM6J-1xyVVhw9J3AFnmJWpl6EhI_RTZ6Cq8mLfZ5mvI74XvTnNcy2kji9PiRUNgLGdRoKna7rxO4pkxtd98P7cGO3iftAGQjs/s1600/1962+From+Scott+Brodie,+Coniston+Designs).jpg" height="462" title="Traffic accident and traffic jostling through the roundabout at St Kilda Junction. (1962)" width="640"></a></td></tr>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Traffic accident and traffic jostling through the roundabout at St Kilda Junction. (1962)</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b> </b>Another feature of the Junction through the Twentieth-century was as a location for advertising billboards.</span><br>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Traffic congestion and commercial advertising have had a long association with the Junction.</span><br>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">(Picture from Scott Brodie, Coniston Designs)</span></div>
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<br>The 1950s and 1960s saw the increased mobility of the population and traffic volume through greater access to private vehicles, a general move from inner city living to outer suburban areas and increasing distances between home, work and other amenities such as shops, schools and hospitals , etc. Such changes increased traffic volume and put increasing pressure on intersections like St Kilda Junction. For example, Graeme Davison reported that in 1951 scarcely one Melbournian in ten had journeyed to work by car. By 1964 nearly one-third (31%) were driving or riding in a car. In 1974 the proportion had more than doubled again to almost two-thirds (66%).<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">12</span></b> During the same period there was a decline in the use of public transport. Graeme Turnbull reports that ‘patronage of tram and tramway bus dropped from 263 million in 1949/50 to 209 million ten years later. By 1965/66 it had fallen to 166 million and by 1969/70 patronage had declined to 133 million'.<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>13</b></span></div>
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The decline of public transport use and the increase in car use must have been on the minds of the planners contemplating changes to St Kilda Junction. In the late 1960s the Victorian Government announced plans for a major redevelopment of St Kilda Junction. This huge project managed by the Melbourne Metropolitan Board of Works (MMBW) was completed in stages and included expanding Queens Road to four lanes, a six lane extension was formed passing under St Kilda Road and linked to Dandenong Road, the tram line running up Wellington Street was diverted up into the underpass and Queens Road. Over one hundred and fifty houses, forty-two shops, fifty-two business as well as other premises were demolished.<br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibEPF6ECZMreIhD4TtaQ8NakEettDXYY7oP0ppaxw7kHvwwY7RM1skwAq9ZYCYl7FFJVwL1atT7VcOB2EoMtlNerKWsnTZAwXrHxSt2lU7so1oyOCVWpv0pcTmAAIAZo-l-dB2oZ20UTM/s1600/1967-69+Junction-(Digging).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Construction of the Qeens Way under pass circa 1967-69" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibEPF6ECZMreIhD4TtaQ8NakEettDXYY7oP0ppaxw7kHvwwY7RM1skwAq9ZYCYl7FFJVwL1atT7VcOB2EoMtlNerKWsnTZAwXrHxSt2lU7so1oyOCVWpv0pcTmAAIAZo-l-dB2oZ20UTM/s640/1967-69+Junction-(Digging).jpg" height="402" title="" width="640"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Construction of the Queens Way under pass. (circa 1967-69)</b></td></tr>
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The initial St Kilda Junction redevelopment included the retention of the East Brighton and Malvern Burke Rd trams in narrow Wellington Street but the Melbourne Metropolitan Tramways Board successfully lobbied for the trams to utilise the central median strip of the extended Queens Way. When it opened on 11 December 1968 it represented a symbolic relocation and reaffirmation of Melbourne’s tramway system.<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">14</span></b><br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM1kNgkEXU21aKlRHc2psJpsYqUQkAbFPyOKeEJbuwzKPfma5pwosO1yGp9QskDVelw9XZDJ5oEyejM7P45YgMqz072xu_uD8Dc3H7hfF7ok7dWJhmaIZ3Plg72AFgGpnJJS-qjPoZZIg/s1600/1967-69-Demolitions+A.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Demolitions to make way for the four-lane extension of Queens Way at St Kilda Junction (circa 1966)" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM1kNgkEXU21aKlRHc2psJpsYqUQkAbFPyOKeEJbuwzKPfma5pwosO1yGp9QskDVelw9XZDJ5oEyejM7P45YgMqz072xu_uD8Dc3H7hfF7ok7dWJhmaIZ3Plg72AFgGpnJJS-qjPoZZIg/s1600/1967-69-Demolitions+A.jpg" height="640" title="Demolitions to make way for the four-lane extension of Queens Way at St Kilda Junction (circa 1966)" width="388"></a></td></tr>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Demolitions to make way for the four-lane extension of </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Queens Way at St Kilda Junction (circa 1966)</span></b></div>
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Annie Longmire recalls the staunchest resistance to the demolitions came from Nellie Collins of Vine Street, Windsor, a sixty-six year old woman who had lived the street for forty years. She was initially offered $6,000 and $600 disturbance money by the MMBW, but stubbornly refused to accept it. Her home was demolished by front-end loader in March 1967 when she was out, and the Land Valuation Board in 1968 eventually awarded her $9,640, which was less than the MMBW's final offer. However, Longmire also states that the MMBW did take special care to save the Corroboree Tree when it realigned twenty metres of St. Kilda Road so that none of the main tree roots were touched.<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">14</span></b> It seems the MMBW could be clandestine with individuals like Nellie Collins but sympathetic to community concerns regarding the Corroboree Tree. One threatened the viability of the project and so required harsh direct action, while the other could be settled by compromise and gave the MMBW an opportunity for some positive publicity to offset the negative aspects of displacing so many residents and businesses.<br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Gfn_xs6SKMSM137wC9A62zuJzi7kZW2ci3lGtMKIm1GtW5RHntESH5cCjrCP6Wh4Z61tZ3lQbzr8ktgeqRWH42OZlGPMGO-9k-ke4Frd7MHbESPnqR8YViC4NzdxqO1Zuv6uMTrRJgE/s1600/1969+Track+Lifting+Road+March+1969+(Trams+Down+Under+Archive).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="The Road at the Junction being torn up as part of its redevelopment. The Junction Hotel is in the background just before its demolition. (circa 1972) (Picture from Trams Down Under Archive)" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Gfn_xs6SKMSM137wC9A62zuJzi7kZW2ci3lGtMKIm1GtW5RHntESH5cCjrCP6Wh4Z61tZ3lQbzr8ktgeqRWH42OZlGPMGO-9k-ke4Frd7MHbESPnqR8YViC4NzdxqO1Zuv6uMTrRJgE/s1600/1969+Track+Lifting+Road+March+1969+(Trams+Down+Under+Archive).jpg" height="480" title="The Road at the Junction being torn up as part of its redevelopment. The Junction Hotel is in the background just before its demolition. (circa 1972) (Picture from Trams Down Under Archive)" width="640"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>The Road at the Junction being torn up as part of its redevelopment.</b><b>The Junction Hotel is in the background just before its demolition. (circa 1972)</b><br>
(Picture from <a href="http://tdu.to/">Trams Down Under Archive</a>)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">In 1970 plans were announced for the long proposed widening of High Street to make it an extension of St Kilda Road. In 1973 demolition of over one hundred and fifty by then dilapidated buildings and the impressive Junction Hotel were underway.</span><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">16</span></b><span style="font-size: small;"> The Junction would never be the same again.</span></div>
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<b>1. '</b>Driver and Two Passengers Injured', <i>The Argus</i>, Tuesday January 4, 1927, p. 15; 'Woman Fatally Injured', <i>The West Australian</i>, Monday February 13, 1928, p. 16; 'ROAD ACCIDENTS. MOTOR-CYCLIST KILLED. Skidded Into Back of Lorry', <i>The Argus</i>, Tuesday September 10, 1929, p. 9; 'TRAFFIC PROSECUTIONS. ST. KILDA JUNCTION ACCIDENT. Driver Fined'. <i>The Argus,</i> Thursday January 5, 1933, p. 11; 'Injured Boy Taken to Hospital', <i>The Argus</i>, Saturday June 16, 1934, p. 16; 'ACCIDENTS AT ST. KILDA Man Killed; Youth Injured', <i>The Argus</i>, Friday January 31, 1936, p. 10; 'MOTORS ACCIDENTS. Heavy Toll. ONE KILLED; MANY INJURED.?', <i>The Sydney Morning Herald</i>, Monday May 11, 1936, p. 10; 'SOLICITOR KILLED. In Motor Fatality. MELBOURNE, May 11', <i>Townsville Daily Bulletin</i>, Tuesday May 12, 1936, p. 6; 'FATAL ACCIDENT?', <i>The Argus</i>, Monday July 15, 1940, p. 2; 'TRAFFIC SNARLED BY FATAL SMASH', <i>The Mercury</i>, Wednesday September 9, 1953, p. 3.<br>
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<b>2. '</b>St. Kilda Junction Scheme Yeas Off', <i>The Age</i>, Friday January 27, 1950, p. 4.<br>
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<b>3. </b>'They plan to change St. Kilda', <i>The Argus</i>, Thursday January 26, 1950, p. 1.<br>
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<b>4. '</b>Traffic Diversion at St. Kilda', <i>The Age</i>, Thursday 7 May 1953 p.1.<br>
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<b>5. </b>Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works, <i>Melbourne Metropolitan Planning Scheme 1954 report,</i> Melbourne, 1954 p.101.<br>
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<b>6. </b>A. M. Longmire, <i>The History of St Kilda: Volume 3 The Show Goes On: 1930 to July 1983</i>, Hawthorn, 1989, p. 182.<br>
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<b>7.</b> 'Traffic Triangle Back at Junction: Roundabout Goes After Squabble', <i>The Age</i>, Wednesday February 22, 1956, p. 3.<br>
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<b>8. '</b>St. Kilda Junction Confusion', <i>The Age</i>, Wednesday February 22, 1956, p. 1.<br>
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<b>9. '</b>Jungle law Is Back', <i>The Argus</i>, Wednesday February 22, 1956, p. 5.<br>
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<b>10. '</b>New roundabout will be temporary – Bolte', <i>The Argus</i>, Friday February 24, 1956, p. 6.<br>
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<b>11. </b>A. M. Longmire, <i>The History of St Kilda: Volume 3 The Show Goes On: 1930 to July 1983</i>, Hawthorn, 1989, p. 183.<br>
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<b>12.</b> G. Davison, with S. Yelland, <i>Car Wars: How the car won our hearts and conquered our cities</i>, Sydney, 2004, p. 26.<br>
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<b>13.</b> G. Turnbull, <i>The development and retention of Melbourne’s trams and the influence of Sir Robert Risson</i>, RMIT working paper series, Melbourne, August 2002, p. 25.<br>
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<b>14. </b>Biosis Research, <i>Melbourne Metropolitan Tramways Heritage Study</i>, Port Melbourne, 2011, p. 92.<br>
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<b>15.</b> A. M. Longmire, <i>The History of St Kilda: Volume 3 The Show Goes On: 1930 to July 1983</i>, Hawthorn, 1989, p. 201.<br>
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<b>16. </b>ibid., pp. 200-201.
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stkildajunctionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10100766936112459088noreply@blogger.com2St Kilda Junction/St Kilda Rd, St Kilda VIC 3182, Australia-37.8552887 144.98245599999996-41.0011297 139.81888199999995 -34.709447700000005 150.14602999999997tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128744816984531555.post-3930332725582217412014-01-15T17:15:00.000+11:002014-03-15T07:29:32.251+11:00Beyond the Redevelopment (1980s to 2013)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div style="text-align: justify;"><b>During the 1950s and into the 1960s</b> St Kilda became more and more impoverished and its infrastructure increasingly '<i>run-down</i>'. In the 1960s demand for inner city accommodation began to return which begun a short lived boom in apartment building boom.<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">1</span></b> This apartment boom was a portent of future increased demand for inner city living. Increasing local traffic and traffic passing through the Junction <i>'too or from'</i> more distant locations of Melbourne's expanding suburbans and beyond was overwhelming its infrastructure and capacity. The Junction must have had an atmosphere of <i>'dwindling order against rising chaos'</i>. The solution decided and eventually implement was a significant physical and engineering redevelopment of the Junction. This was a technical solution typical of its era and attempt to provide a technocratic solution to a problem that involved more than just traffic flow difficulties. Other aspects associated with the Junction (e.g. local amenity) where not on the radar of the designers and their political masters, the focus was '<i>traffic control and management</i>'.<br>
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The 1970s redevelopment with it's fly-overs, underpasses, street widening and demolitions imposed a harsh formality of form and functionality over the Junction. It physically remodelled the Junction to serve the convenience of the commuter and satisfy their need to get to their destination more easily and quickly. However, the redevelopment also created a long lasting and significant barrier cutting St Kilda in half in a much harsher physical form than the pre-existing Junction. Since it was built the physical form and visual harshness of the Junction has barely changed. Its austerity has perhaps softened a little by vegetation planted as simple landscaping, thickening and maturing. The traffic use of the Junction has continued to increase and in contrast St Kilda itself has undergone some dramatic changes since the completion of the 1970s redevelopment.<br>
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The increase use of the Junction has been in part driven by Melbourne's general population growth, the total number of vehicles (including trams and buses) and the number of journeys through the Junction made by those vehicles. Concurrently the economic fortune of St Kilda began to accrue bringing substantial social and physical change. This rising economic fortune was associated with an increasing demand for inner city living in suburbs like St Kilda. This demand has been driven by wide range of forces which were not only occurring in Melbourne but were part of an international phenomena that has been experienced across the world. These forces included a complex mixture of demographic, economic, social and cultural factors. The need to accommodate the rising demand for properties in St Kilda fuelled an impetus to redevelop old properties either by renovation and recycling or demolition and new building.<br>
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The redevelopment impetus of this era was a return to an old favourite Melbourne activity, '<i>property speculation'</i> via '<i>land subdivision'</i> and was geared to catering to the communities perceived notions of property ownership with the principle motivation of financial gain. Financial gain for the developer and building industry (via sales from the development), government agencies (via fees and charges - stamp duty) and financial gain by the home owner (via the expected growth in rents or the capital worth of their property).<br>
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Some of the consequences of this redevelopment was the demolition of many of the older mansions and other earlier buildings and their replacement with higher and more densely packed apartment buildings and town houses. The changes to building stock and its use fuelled conflict between local residents/institutions and the developers and their supporters. The impact of this redevelopment also contributed increases in property value and the cost of accommodation (e.g. rents). This conflict between local and developer/supporter interests also contributed to the establishment of opposing protest and actions groups and fostered the influence of the heritage and urban conservation movement.<br>
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By the mid 1980s the impact of redevelopment in St Kilda lead to the establishment of the '<i>Turn the Tide'</i> political group.<span style="font-size: x-small; font-weight: bold;">2 </span> The '<i>Turn the Tide</i>' group was successful in some of its objectives, such as the termination of the tourist development proposal for the St Kilda Marina, new height controls for buildings on the foreshore, new heritage control measures and the allocation of Council rates to support local social housing projects.<span style="font-size: x-small; font-weight: bold;">3</span> In more recent times another community action group, <i>'unChain St Kilda'</i> had its success by gaining Council representation (as did <i>'Turn the Tide'_</i> and in 2009 halted the proposed <i>St Kilda Triangle project</i> around the Palais Theatre. Since 2009 and under influence of <i>'unChain St Kilda'</i> the Port Phillip Council has developed an alternative project concept. Another local action group was/is <i>'JAAG: Junction Area Action Group'</i>. This group was more closely associated with the physical location of St Kilda Junction and has existed in at least one guise since 2002. It claims to represent the residence the Junction precinct bounded by St Kilda Road, Alma Road Chapel Street and Dandenong Road. Part of <i>JAAG's</i> mission statement is to 'strive to preserve our highly sought after sense of community values and protect our much loved local heritage buildings and streets capes ...'.<b style="font-size: small;">4 </b> The local identity of the Junction Precinct is heavy influence by the physical boundaries created by the 1970s redevelopment. The widening of the old High Street to extent St Kilda Road to Carisle Street and the creation of the Queens Way extension to link Dandenong Road with the Junction.<br>
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The aggregate success of the opposition movements to the inner city redevelopment impetus is questionable given the continued and increasing pressure to exploit and redevelop these areas. There has been some high profile and other successes but these movements have hardly dinted the increasing momentum for redevelopment. However, they have mitigated some of the worst excesses of the redevelopers but they have also stifled projects that were seen as benefical by other members of the community. Determining if a good or bad outcome has been achieved depends on the which side of the conflict and which values are seen more preeminent. To justify their position and actions each side draws upon their own selected ideological framework and supporting arguments and is motivated by their own interests (be that personal or communal). Each participant has at the germ of their position a desire to see their values and interests triumphant. Less scrupulous on both sides disguise their narrow vested interests as either serving the benefit and welfare of the wider community or by promoting their vest interests as the interests of the wider community itself.<br>
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The following links are to several short video clips from YouTube that relate to the <i>'St Kilda Triangle Project'</i>. They illustrate how a development project can be judged and the values an individual may draw upon to justify their opinion and judgement. Focusing on the impact of the 1990s real estate boom, the last two video clips also provide commentaries and reminisces by local inhabitants about the social changes in St Kilda over four decades.<br>
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<b>1.</b> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NREP5JGg7Z0">St Kilda triangle site</a><span style="font-size: x-small;"> (this link will take you to YouTube)</span></ul>
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<b>2.</b> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-nHFEH8AoU">Spencer McLaren: St Kilda has to stay Culturally rich!</a><span style="font-size: x-small;"> (this link will take you to YouTube)</span></ul>
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<b>3.</b> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m52sRwUK02I">Junkyard of Dreams Part 1</a><span style="font-size: x-small;"> (this link will take you to YouTube)</span></ul>
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<b>4. </b><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m52sRwUK02I">Junkyard of Dreams Part 2</a><span style="font-size: x-small;"> (this link will take you to YouTube)</span><br>
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The 1980s ended with a global recession and an Australian recession that put a pause on the increase redevelopment occurring in suburbs like St Kilda only to later help accelerate this redevelopment by making residential development in the inner city more economically viable. Other changes in the 1980s and early 90s also contributed the 1990s redevelopment acceleration, which included the departure of manufacturing and warehouse businesses from the inner city leaving vacant exploitable properties, the reduction of the size of households reducing the space needed for occupancy and legislative changes encouraging denser housing and dual occupancy, etc.<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">5</span></b><br>
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After the 1990s recession Australia enter a period of long prosperity and the demand for inner city living continued to increase. The people making this shift back to inner city living and contributing to the demand for inner city properties are often referred to as <i>gentrifiers</i>. The impact of the gentrifiers has been demand for higher amenity, increased property prices creating higher rents and pushing out the existing lower income residents and radically altering the social demographics of an area.<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">6</span></b> St Kilda's social, economic and demographic makeup has been profoundly altered, including the loss of much of its indigenous community which had a strong presence in the 1980s.<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>7</b></span><br>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><br></b></span>Gentrifiers were not just purchasers of newly built properties they also were a significant force in the acquisition of older properties, many with the objective of restoring them to some subjective notion of <i>'pass glory' </i>and then either residing in their creation or selling it and moving on to the next venture. As well as a subjective restorative motivation most gentrifiers were/are also motivated by profit (e.g by increased rental income and/or the capital gained by the renovators property's increase in value). Gentrifiers having the capital to invest tended to target areas where property prices are relatively lower but had the potential for growth in short to medium term, had a suitable location and housing stock (all be it round down) and the potential for increased future demand as well as some heritage/cultural significance that could be exploited. The <i>'renovating gentrifier'</i> was a hybrid mix of the developer and the urban/heritage conservationists. Gentrifiers (myself included being at one stage one of those St Kilda <i>'renovating gentrifiers')</i> mixed elements of both the developer and the conservationist to suit their own motivations and objectives. Sometimes successfully and sometimes disastrously, either way their collective action contributed to the upward pressure on property prices and facilitated social and demographic change.<br>
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Gentrification began in the 1980s in St Kilda and accelerated in the 90s contributing to the area's many demographic, social and economic changes during this period.<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">8 </span></b>The Junction however, felt little of the dramatic changes going on around it except for the steady increase in traffic and use over that same period. There was some redevelopment in the Junction's immediate environment but this did not make any significant impact on the Junction itself except for the occasional rumblings about its ugliness, poor of space and lack of amenity for residents.<br>
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After a long period of stasis, in the past decade things have begun to change for the Junction. The immediate area surrounding the Junction has finally started to feel the same pressure and attention as the rest of St Kilda and has been target by developers for exploitation. This attention has become more intense with the increase in frequency and size of the projects being proposed. Currently there is a 18 storey '<i>the Icon</i>' currently under construction at 2-8 St Kilda Road on the corner of Wellington Street and a 23 storey building with approval for 3-5 St Kilda Road with others in the pipeline.<br>
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The development push has resulted community resistance concerned about the impact of these development on local amenity and facilities. This is not unreasonable given that many of these project seek dispensations from Council planning controls. Concern is also justified given that there does not seem to be an area plan to integrate these individual projects, plan for the necessary amenities required by the future residents and make some meaningful of attempt to facilitate community integration. The City of Port Phillip has come under criticism for its slow reaction to the change occur at the Junction. Some have suggested that the failure of the Council to have binding height overlays has contributed success of these projects through the appeal process at the Victorian Administrative Appeals Tribunal and their approval by the Tribunal.<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">9</span></b></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMx7z4VgFHjzcCWIAg613hqwNQ65EA2QtDoaUjQF4h3VgN41cQayn2HXvev6oguEHJb4bkD9EWn48jpjCeWDfg6X-aai5-BLKbMb2YKBpp1973ClPpKxQMttsdUF7YmKSnTX-8mgw3txg/s1600/2StKilda.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="'The Icon' a 18 story building at 2 St Kilda Road (under construction in 2013) is clearly designed to make its own powerful visual statement over the area." border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMx7z4VgFHjzcCWIAg613hqwNQ65EA2QtDoaUjQF4h3VgN41cQayn2HXvev6oguEHJb4bkD9EWn48jpjCeWDfg6X-aai5-BLKbMb2YKBpp1973ClPpKxQMttsdUF7YmKSnTX-8mgw3txg/s640/2StKilda.png" title="" width="449"></a></td></tr>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">'The Icon' a 18 story building at 2 St Kilda Road (under construction in 2013) </span></b><br>
<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">is clearly </span></b><b style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">designed to make its own powerful visual statement over the area.</span></b></div>
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In 2006 the City of Port Phillip instituted a street art project at the Junction not without some local criticism.<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">10</span></b> The motivation for the project may have derived from a range of factors such as; the cost of maintenance and cleaning, a desire to engage in a more constructive way with street artists, a desire to facilitate community involvement and commitment by participating is this sort of project, an attempt to attract tourists or an attempt to mitigate the perceived ugliness of the Junction. The project has been ongoing since 2006 and has become well known in the 'street art' community both nationally and internationally and is referred to in some quarters as the 'subterranean street art precinct'. The Street Art Project was significant for the Junction in two important ways. To my knowledge it was the first community interaction with the Junction for many years that did not involve some utilitarian function (e.g. maintenance) or traffic management issue and it was the first time for many years that the Junction was in its own right associated with something other than traffic. The Street art project could be interpreted as being of a process to address the poor status of the Junction with the community.<br>
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Another indication that the Junction is in need of an urban make-over is via some new design concepts produced by the University of Melbourne's Environments and Design Student Centre.<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b> </b></span>The aim of the designs to improve the amenity, and functionality of the Junction by reconnecting the local community and to make the Junction a major multi-nodal transport interchange and a thriving residential and cultural precinct. Unfortunately to date no such integrated urban planning approach has been employed to take the Junction into the twenty-first century.<b style="font-size: small;">11</b></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLcjtK-q5gyOEFLn3BDitzxTDKD5YlzhtP96l_DNIjIZ3AttsLoJjcddIVIwA0PZiqViN7RJCKUJLpxtX53a1hliGrQqpOULwrcVfTZAKhBeCBED9UN5YvCGLaX1fXY6n7JpF7bErUslI/s1600/2_Aerial-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="One example of a design concept for St Kilda Junction from the University of Melbourne" border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLcjtK-q5gyOEFLn3BDitzxTDKD5YlzhtP96l_DNIjIZ3AttsLoJjcddIVIwA0PZiqViN7RJCKUJLpxtX53a1hliGrQqpOULwrcVfTZAKhBeCBED9UN5YvCGLaX1fXY6n7JpF7bErUslI/s640/2_Aerial-1.jpg" title="" width="640"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>One example of a design concept for St Kilda Junction from the University of Melbourne</b></span><br>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>See: <a href="http://edsc.unimelb.edu.au/2013-s1-masters-studio-4">Environments and Design Student Centre 2013 Masters Studio 4 </a></b></span><br>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><a href="http://edsc.unimelb.edu.au/2013-s1-masters-studio-4">(Junction Studio - Reconnecting the Urban Spine)</a></b></span></td></tr>
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A recent criticism was made by Steve Dunn president of the Victorian Division of the Planning Institute of Australia who was commenting on the Junction as one of Melbourne’s worst planning disasters, a place that hampered traffic flow, isolated communities or disregarded amenity. He went onto say it was a complicated intersection that turned into a ‘traffic sewer’ at peak hour.<b style="font-size: small;">12 </b> Leo van Schaik, Professor of Architecture at RMIT has described St Kilda Junction as the most disappointing urban space in the city. He goes on to suggest it used to be an interesting hub but traffic engineers improved it into oblivion.<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">13</span></b><br>
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Perkin’s harsh criticism has to be seen in the light of the design features of the Junction being out of date with twenty-first century expectations. Grumblings about the ugliness and lack of amenity have been going on for decades but as the 'street art' and 'design concepts' indicate there is some movement towards addressing these concerns.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqA1FpAgyjRC9dyF0cNFEyHeKf34sMsDuSVuufAP-twDrXLdZizEoBO8iBz2dTNImtFyaskjOX-nZp79Qzfbj5wd3YsYhJEpK5b9LZXVaD_tqemUhLKEFflsXiGZcKJgjLepim7NwM1JQ/s1600/2012-10-20+12.53.17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Tram Interchange at St Kilda Junction 2012" border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqA1FpAgyjRC9dyF0cNFEyHeKf34sMsDuSVuufAP-twDrXLdZizEoBO8iBz2dTNImtFyaskjOX-nZp79Qzfbj5wd3YsYhJEpK5b9LZXVaD_tqemUhLKEFflsXiGZcKJgjLepim7NwM1JQ/s640/2012-10-20+12.53.17.jpg" title="" width="640"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Tram interchange at St Kilda Junction. (2012)</b></td></tr>
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The current targeting of the Junction area by developments is going to change the Junction bringing more people to the immediate area. The pressure for better utilisation of the Junction for purposes other than being just a road intersection and tram interchange must surely increase with every development project completed.<br>
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The history of St Kilda Junction started at a time when devastating change was brought on the Boon wurrung people by European settlement. The Junction was a central focal point for the early St Kilda and helped feed the development and multiple changes to the area over time. It also maintained an important link with the Central Business District and the expanding suburbs of the south and southeast. Its history up until the 1970s is characterised by ad hoc and short term planning decisions that created an atmosphere of ‘<i>order among chaos</i>’. The increasing pressure of population and traffic needs as the twentieth-century progressed meant that the Junction became grimmer and more dishevelled.<br>
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The late 1960s to the early 1970s saw a harsh ‘engineering’ formality imposed over the Junction. Order through rigid form and function, which reduced congestion significantly but it also created a significant physical barrier dissecting the local community. In the Twentyfirst-century the Junction’s solution seems tired and outmoded, it is hoped that in the future any change to the Junction will involve a better balance of the needs of the commuter and the needs of the local community as well as create a space that can be used by all, which promotes their welfare, safety, health and convenience.</div>
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<b>1.</b> L. Porter, 'Demographic Change', <i>Australian Property Journal</i>, February, 1999, pp. 389-396 at 390.<br>
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<b>2.</b> G. Giannini, 'The Rise and Rise of Higher Density Living', <i>Housing Futures</i>, May/June, 2011, pp. 39-42 at 39.<br>
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<b>3.</b> Community Alliance of Port Phillip, <i>An overview of CAPP and our involvement in the City of Port Phillip</i>, ca 2012, p. 2.<br>
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<b>4. </b>St Kilda Junction Area Action Group,<i> About us</i>, n.d., at <a href="http://jaagstkilda.com/about">http://jaagstkilda.com/about/</a> (accessed January 6, 2014).<br>
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<b>5. </b>L. Porter, 'Demographic Change', <i>Australian Property Journal</i>, February, 1999, pp. 389-396 at 391-394.<br>
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<b>6 </b>R. Atkinson, M. Wulff, M. Reynolds and A. Spinney, <i>Gentrification and displacement: the household impacts of neighbourhood change</i>, AHURI Final Report No. 160, Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, Melbourne, 2011, p. 67.<br>
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<b>7.</b> R. Laboto, 'Gentrification, Culture Policy and Live Music in Melbourne', <i>Media International Australia incorporating Culture and Policy'</i>, no. 160, August, 2006, pp. 63-75 at 65.<br>
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<b>8. </b>R. Atkinson, M. Wulff, M. Reynolds and A. Spinney, <i>Gentrification and displacement: the household impacts of neighbourhood change</i>, AHURI Final Report No. 160, Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, Melbourne, 2011, p. 47.<br>
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<b>9. </b>S. Johanson, St Kilda's 'futuristic' Lego-land goes ahead', <i>The Age</i>, 22 August 2012; M. Baljak, 'Queueing up at the Junction', <i>Urban Melbourne.info</i>, Thursday April 4, 2013.<br>
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<b>10. </b>City of Port Phillip, <i>Graffiti Management Plan 2013-2018 (Draft)</i>, 2013, p. 6.<br>
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<b>11.</b> M. Johnston, 'Students model iconic image for a reborn St Kilda Junction', <i>UniNews</i>, vol. 15, no. 5, April 3-17, 2006.<br>
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<b>12. </b>M. Perkins, 'The bad, the ugly and the dysfunctional', <i>The Age</i>, June 15, 2011.<br>
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<b>13. </b>G. Coslovish, 'Welcome to Melbourne, the world's designer city, <i>The Sydney Morning Herald</i>, January 22, 2006, p. 7.
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stkildajunctionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10100766936112459088noreply@blogger.com0St Kilda Junction/St Kilda Rd, St Kilda VIC 3182, Australia-37.8552887 144.98245599999996-63.1494147 103.67386199999996 -12.561162700000004 -173.70895000000007tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128744816984531555.post-16005029566539775742012-10-19T13:24:00.000+11:002014-01-15T19:38:46.702+11:00Why a History of St Kilda Junction?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>When I first came to live in Melbourne in the mid 1980s</b>,
St Kilda Junction was one of the first places I used to orientate myself around
the city. At this time on the corner of St Kilda Road and Wellington Streets
the Junction was dominated by a large 3D glass of Coca Cola, which was later,
replaced by a similar size glass of Swan Beer. A reoccurring and current theme
of St Kilda Junction was its role as host for advertising billboards and
paraphernalia.<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>1</b></span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='420' height='349' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dz6JbJBKnqz1wFbOGwBhiiw0ZAK8w14sh2cdQ4D7vCms1vEyT72avTqSnMw1RG58_tTJ9dw9FArstGxg0hP6A' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>From <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SOJoDv4fEk">YouTube</a> - W Class Tram at St Kilda Junction. (1983</b>)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">This video clip is very similar to how I remember </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">the Junction when I first came </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">to Melbourne; including the big Coco Cola Glass </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">in the background.</span></div>
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I living in Elsternwick at the time and the Junction was one
of the prominent transit points on my way home from work in the Central
Business District. Longing to get home, it was a midway point after a tiring
day; it was a relief that I was half way home. I would wearily look through the
window of the tram at the dreary Junction and the silent passengers waiting
patiently for their own tram and journey home. This was before mobile phones
and 3G applications so people just stared blankly into space or consulted their
newspaper as they waited. At this time the Junction had little meaning to
me beyond being a transitory signpost. Many years later when I came to live in
St Kilda, the Junction became a more familiar place but still a place to wait
for a bus or tram or be delayed at the traffic lights while trying to get
somewhere else.</div>
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The Junction is located approximately 6 kilometres south
of the Central Business District. It is a transport intersection linking the
heart of Melbourne to the south-eastern suburbs and is a series of tangled
roads, fly-overs, tunnels and walkways.</div>
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="494" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="https://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=-37.855887,144.982597&spn=0.002399,0.004898&t=h&z=19&vpsrc=6&output=embed" width="600"></iframe><br /></div>
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<small><b>Google Map of St Kilda Junction. (2014)</b> <a href="https://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=-37.855887,144.982597&spn=0.002399,0.004898&t=h&z=19&vpsrc=6&source=embed" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #e69138;">Click Here to view Larger Map</span></a></small>
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At its centre is a triangular
space with basic landscaping of shrubs and trees, interconnecting tramlines,
overhead cables and recently extensive street art. From the Junction you can go
west to St Kilda, continue south to the bayside and southern suburbs or turn
east into Dandenong Road and travel to the south-eastern suburbs. Teams of
cars, trucks, buses hurtle through the Junction in an endless stream and trams
rattle by at regular intervals. You can choose to cross the road if the timing
of the traffic lights is right or you can make your way through the maze of
pedestrian walkways and underpasses. These are dark, bleak and sometimes
smell of urine and paved with litter. Waiting for a tram or bus, the Junction
is windy and cold in winter and dry, dusty and hot in summer. The landscaping
is tired but the trees and scrubs seem to be trying to reclaim their Junction.
Passengers in formal suits and ties or neatly pressed tops and skirts play with
their mobile phones or tablets as they anticipate their ride to the city, a
cheerful couple of backpackers wait hand in hand for the number 16 tram to go
to St Kilda beach and still others loiter around ready to head to their
destination. A regular identity of the Junction wonders past, looking for
cigarette butts and checking the garbage bins. Everyone one ignores him despite
the smell, he is not there and neither are they, they are already somewhere
else. A tram arrives and people alight and then quickly scuttle away in all
directions, still others move onto the tram and begin their journey. This is
the Junction to me, a forlorn place, isolating, tired and unkempt but something
that has been a regular in my life as it has for so many other people.<br />
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This brief history explores St Kilda Junction from
it's early beginnings to the present. By looking at the history of the Junction
I hope to move beyond my personal perceptions and consider larger forces within
the urban environment that have affected the Junction and driven change. This
may also help inform future decision-making about the Junction and the wider
urban landscape and environment. The Junction’s story has much to tell us about
our experience and interaction with that urban environment and landscape.<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>2</b></span></div>
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There are two major histories have been written about St
Kilda which make multiple references to the Junction. These are John Butler
Cooper’s <i>The History of St Kilda Volumes 1 & 2 From Its First Settlement To
A City: 1840 to 1930</i> and Anne Longmire’s <i>The History of St Kilda: Volume 3 The
Show Goes On: 1930 to July 1983</i>. These works are major references for the
Junction’s history as they draw upon multiple original sources. Cooper’s work
was commissioned by the St Kilda City Council and is largely a history of St
Kilda through the prism of the Council. It has a great amount of detail but
limited wider analysis of the social, political, economic or cultural
implications. It does however, provide some interesting references concerning
the development and changes to St Kilda Junction between 1840 and 1930. Anne
Longmire’s work also commissioned by the St Kilda City Council shows the hand
of the modern professional historian as she discusses many issues concerning
the changing nature of St Kilda. Longmire’s references to St Kilda Junction are
in a broader socio-economic and cultural context and provide some discussion of
the redevelopment of the Junction during the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Newspaper articles (e.g. <i>The Age</i> and <i>The Argus</i>) have been used in this history
because they highlight contemporary issues and provide valuable insight into
people’s experience of the Junction at different periods of its life.
Government publications and reports such as <i>Melbourne Metropolitan Planning
Commission Reports </i>of 1925 and 1954 and have been utilised for there
illustration of associated management and development issues. Other sources
that provide insight into broader social, political and economic forces that
have impacted on the Junction have also been employed. These included Graeme
Davison’s <i>Car Wars: How the car won our hearts and conquered our cities</i> and
Graeme Turnbull’s, <i>The development and retention of Melbourne’s trams and the
influence of Sir Robert Risson</i>.</div>
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These sources have been used in this history to
identify some of the Junction's major historical themes and form the basis of this brief summary.</div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><b>
1.</b> 'Signs of Change at St Kilda', </span><i style="text-align: left;">The Age</i><span style="text-align: left;">, Tuesday May 13, 1986, p. 2.</span><br />
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<b>2. </b>S. W. LittleJohn and K. A. Foss, <i>Theories of Human Communication</i>, 9th ed., Belmont, 2007, p. 2.</div>
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stkildajunctionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10100766936112459088noreply@blogger.com1St Kilda Junction/St Kilda Rd, St Kilda VIC 3182, Australia-37.8552887 144.98245599999996-37.8615572 144.97237099999995 -37.849020200000005 144.99254099999996