Vandals target former school site of Melba College in Croydon Rd with graffiti and rubbish
MELBA College in Croydon was once a haven for arts and music students. Now the only people attracted to the abandoned school are squatters and graffiti vandals. This is what it looks like.
Outer East
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AN ABANDONED 60-year-old school campus, once renowned for its arts and music curriculum, has been turned into a graffiti-filled squat.
Melba College left its junior school campus on Croydon Rd at the end of last year, relocating to a new home on Brentnall Rd.
Maroondah Leader visited the old site last week after receiving concerns about alleged squatters and anti-social behaviour at night.
Graffiti vandals have left their mark, with tags and murals plastered over disused buildings and spray-paint cans left in nearby gardens.
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There was also a baby chair hanging outside a locker bay, doors knocked down, a blanket near a hall entrance and beer cans and pizza boxes in rubbish bins.
Neighbour Louise Knight said the graffiti had emerged in the past six weeks.
She said it was disappointing to see the site getting increasingly vandalised.
“It’s a shame there’s tagging all over the windows and across the doors,” she said.
“I’m hopeful something interesting is going to be done with the school; there’s still people coming and going to the hall, and lots of people using the oval to walk their dogs and kick the footy around.”
In a statement, Maroondah Mayor Nora Lamont said the Department of Education was responsible for ongoing maintenance of the site.
But Cr Lamont said the council was “conscious of the opportunity for active re-use of the site” and was negotiating with the department to take over operations of the oval and gymnasium.
The campus opened in 1958 as the home of the former Croydon Secondary College.
The college merged with Maroondah Secondary College in 2012, and was renamed after acclaimed opera singer Dame Nellie Melba.
The college’s website states it has a “renowned” music program and its performing arts program attracts “many prospective students”.
It also lists the late opera singer as a “wonderful inspiration for our students”.
Melba College acting principal Carol Ashton said the school community was disappointed with the vandalism at their former home.
She said some school no longer had a presence at the site but a handful of workers had been based there until recently.
Ms Ashton assured visitors the site “is safe and still under security”.
Department of Education spokeswoman Linh Salisbury said contractors would be sent out to remove the graffiti this week.
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