Melbourne Central’s 134-year-old Shot Tower has been blanketed in beer advertising without permission, prompting the heritage authority to request the removal of the banners.
The massive ads appeared on the tower in recent weeks, and Heritage Victoria told The Age no permit or permit exemption had been issued for them. Melbourne Central management previously said it did not need a permit because the advertising was temporary.
Founder of the Heritage Network Victoria, Adam Ford, in front of the Coop’s Shot Tower blanketed in a beer ad.Credit: Eddie Jim
A Heritage Victoria spokesperson said: ”Heritage Victoria has requested that the advertising signage be removed from the Coops Shot Tower at Melbourne Central within five days.”
It is unclear what effect that edict will have on the banners, as the advertising campaign is due to finish on Sunday. Heritage Victoria did not respond to questions as to whether Melbourne Central would be fined.
The 134-year-old Coop’s Shot Tower blanketed in a beer ad.Credit: Eddie Jim
Adam Ford, heritage activist and founder of the Heritage Network Victoria, said the installation was the latest example of “crass” and “tasteless” commercialisation of heritage sites in the city.
“This is, in fact, one of the more egregious abominations of any structure on the Victorian Heritage Register that I can conjure to mind right now,” he said.
“It does speak to the lip-service that is routinely paid to heritage considerations across all areas of planning in this state.
“The spectacle is almost surreal.”
“If I went and made changes to my private property within a heritage overlay without approval, council would correctly slap me with a fine,” said Ford.“Other building owners are going to look at this outcome and receive nothing but encouragement that they all can plaster their state heritage-listed properties in advertising with effective impunity. ”
Illustration:Credit: Matt Golding
Melbourne Central management had claimed the ad was exempt from Heritage Victoria rules because it was “a short-term temporary installation that does not impact the fabric of the building”.
The Coop’s Shot Tower was erected in 1889-90 and was used to make lead shot for guns until 1960.
The bullets were made by dropping molten lead through sieves at the top of the tower into water at the bottom.
The tower was set to be demolished but was saved after an advocacy campaign and was eventually incorporated into the shopping centre in the late 1980s.
According to the Heritage Register, at its peak the tower was producing six tonnes of shot per week as well as other lead items like nails and pipes. It was one of the tallest buildings in Melbourne for many years.
The National Trust of Australia also criticised the shot tower ad, saying the blanket advertising undermined the purpose of heritage protection, and that any use of heritage buildings should ensure “qualities that draw people to these places and make us proud Melburnians are not lost in the process”.
“With heritage sites that make Melbourne great, there needs to be a thoughtful approach to making any changes, no matter how temporary,” said executive manager Samantha Westbrooke.
Ford also slammed recent promotional pop-ups outside the heritage-listed State Library.
The State Library has long hired out its forecourt for commercial and non-commercial events, and in the past week has run promotional pop-up stands for a hotel chain and an ice-cream brand.
A spokeswoman declined to detail how much the library made from leasing the space but said revenue helped maintain its programs and library services.
Ford said the city had a history of what he described as poor use of heritage – including the coverage of the historic water tower clock at Southern Cross Station in advertising video screens when it was reinstated in 2014.
Workmen constructing the dome for the Melbourne Central shopping centre in 1991.Credit: Bruce Postle
The clock was first installed at Flinders Street Station’s Elizabeth Street entrance in 1883 and was the master clock, off which the state’s entire rail operations ran. It was moved to Spencer Street Station in 1910 where it sat for 57 years before it was placed in a museum.
“It was reinstated without even a hint of interpretive signage to contextualise the object,” he said. “Instead it sits on a plinth plastered on all four sides with digital advertising displays.”
Although Melbourne Council controls neither the State Library land nor the Southern Cross or Melbourne Central assets, Ford called on newly elected Lord Mayor Nick Reece – a self-professed lover of heritage – to use his position to lobby for better standards of heritage in the city.
“I really do feel council has dropped the ball on a lot of the basic urban realm like this over the past 10 years or so,” Ford said. “You would not see this in Sydney, and it really pains me to say that.”
La Trobe Street in 1970 with the shot tower in view.Credit: Peter Mayoh
Reece said he was “always looking for modern uses for our heritage buildings” but that it should be done in a way that “enhances and highlights the heritage features of the building, rather than diminishes them”.
“Melbourne is lucky to have kept so many of its heritage buildings and structures, it’s a competitive advantage we have over other Australian capitals,” he said.
“The idea of covering up these structures with digital advertising and other hoardings seems counterproductive to me.”
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