By Bianca Hall
Fitzroy residents are preparing a bid to have the high-rise Atherton Gardens housing estate listed on the Victorian Heritage Register because of its cultural significance to the state.
The housing estate would join nearby sites on the register, including Abbotsford Convent, Collingwood and Fitzroy town halls and the former United Kingdom Hotel on Queens Parade in Clifton Hill – now home to a McDonald's restaurant.
(From left) Atherton Gardens residents Ranko Cosic and Jenny Nyibol and her children, with City of Yarra councillor Stephen Jolly and residents association member Margaret O'Brien.Credit: Justin McManus
The towers may not have the architectural grandeur of those buildings – the modernist prefabricated concrete buildings are a product of their time, instantly recognisable as "commission blocks" – but the group behind the push says the cultural significance of the towers, and the surrounding estate, is undeniable.
"I've lived in Fitzroy for 20 years and I've met so many amazing people, and what seems to bind them is the richness of Fitzroy and the loyalty that comes with it," Fitzroy Residents Association member Margaret O'Brien said.
Atherton Gardens resident and community leader Ranko Cosic said the estate had cultural significance "as the heartland of multiculturalism in the area" and because of "the importance of the green open space to families and children".
"These buildings for me are actually iconic. I've seen a lot of artworks that have included these towers and they're actually a distinguishing feature of Fitzroy."
Architectural designer and researcher Nina Tory-Henderson said the towers, and the buildings they replaced, had been home to social justice struggles over many years.
"What I find interesting about the prospect of the heritage listing is it speaks to a wider social and cultural heritage of Fitzroy," she said.
The Victorian Heritage Database already lists a "statement of significance" for Brunswick Street, between Alexandra Parade and Johnston Street and including the Atherton Gardens estate.
However, the listing says the estate's construction represented "the greatest loss in the street".
Led by premier Henry Bolte, the Housing Commission in the mid-1960s embarked on a dramatic program of slum clearance. To create the Atherton Gardens estate, which was finished in the early 1970s, eight streets – and every house, shop and building on them – were bulldozed.
The loss of community for many living within the boundaries of these streets was devastating.
Newspapers reported how one man, Drago Gorlicki – who owned the last house standing – refused to leave his home in late 1967. Separately, a woman was reported to have thrown bricks at workmen bulldozing her Brunswick Street espresso bar before she was forcibly removed.
The estate today is home to more than 2400 residents, representing an estimated 60 language groups. It is bigger than many country towns.
"What we have here, over a period of time, is community," Mrs O'Brien said. "It's the symbol of the attempt to break up the community, and it hasn't happened."
City of Yarra councillor Stephen Jolly supports the bid.
"It provides an extra layer of protection against any sell-off by a future government to developers," he said.
An aerial view of the Fitzroy slum clearance in preparation for construction of the Atherton Gardens estate.Credit: Alan Lambert
"We see it as history, diversity and community, but others unfortunately may see it as just real estate."
A small group of residents and activists met with Yarra City Council heritage experts for initial advice this week, and are now painstakingly preparing a submission to Heritage Victoria.
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