Melbourne City Council negotiating with Rail Projects Victoria to help fund new CBD visitor centres

FEDERATION Square’s visitor centre will be demolished under Metro Tunnel plans. Here’s why Melbourne City Council wants $1 million to make up for it.

MELBOURNE City Council is seeking $1 million to compensate for the upcoming demolition of its visitor centre at Federation Square for Metro Tunnel works.

The council had factored in the cash in its 2017-18 budget so it could be used to fit out a temporary tourist centre in the Town Hall building on Swanston St.

However, tunnel manager Rail Projects Victoria said that any funding would be deferred to next financial year as the council had only recently lodged a business case for the temporary facility.

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Former lord mayor John So (left) helped launch the Melbourne Visitor Centre at Federation Square in 2002.

“The Project has committed to ultimately providing Melbourne with a new, rent-free visitor centre within the new Town Hall Station,” a Rail Projects spokesman said.

The Melbourne Visitor Centre on the corner of Swanston and Flinders streets will be torn down later this year to make way for an entrance to the underground Town Hall Station.

An image of how the entrance will look was revealed exclusively in the Herald Sun yesterday.

Concept image of the planned Town Hall Station.

The final station design for the Town Hall Concourse. Artist’s impression.

The council announced last month that new visitor hubs would open in the next few months at Town Hall and Queen Victoria Market to be staffed by “red coat” city ambassadors.

Existing visitor services sites are at Bourke St Mall, Fitzroy Gardens, Station Pier and Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Artist image of planned Town Hall Station entrance at City Square.

A City of Melbourne spokesman said the council was in talks with Rail Projects regarding support for ongoing visitor services following the closure of the Federation Square centre.

“Simultaneously, (the city council) is refreshing its visitor services network to operate more services in more locations across the city, and in ways that meet changing visitor expectations,” he said.

The Rail Projects spokesman said that the permanent visitor centre would be in a prime location in a new development to go above Town Hall Station on Swanston St.

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@JMasanauskas