When Australia pushed for the Royal Exhibition Building’s nomination as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the 1990s, many were doubtful it would actually win.
Not a single building in the country had been listed under the cultural heritage category at the time, with only natural sites, such as the Great Barrier Reef and Kakadu National Park, receiving the coveted listing.
The Royal Exhibition Building is crumbling and requires funding. Credit: Penny Stephens
The federal government doubted the building was a favourite among “Eurocentric” World Heritage authorities, this masthead reported at the time.
The 19th-century Joseph Reed-designed Italianate building and the surrounding Carlton Gardens oozed with history, but the World Heritage committee was looking to approve a nomination that was the best of its type in the world. Was the Melbourne complex really on par with Paris’ Eiffel Tower, Athens’ Parthenon, or the Tower of London?
In 2004, came the shock verdict. An Australian building had finally won World Heritage status and that building was in the heart of Melbourne – a triumph that reinforced the building’s value in the minds of policymakers, councillors and politicians. Or did it?
Twenty years on, the 143-year-old building is crumbling. A series of articles in The Age this week has exposed how a lack of funding for restorations under successive governments has left an estimated $50 million repair bill to return the historic building to its former glory.
John Ross Anderson’s murals expressing the pride and ambition of a young nation are peeling off. Gaps in the paintwork are abundant. One side of the building is covered in scaffolding. Large cracks snake their way across internal walls. Some blemishes appear hastily patched, others remain clearly visible.
It remains a beautiful place, but the awe it once inspired in visitors is now tainted by sadness.
Port Phillip Bay was once visible from the vantage point of the dome, modelled on that of Florence’s cathedral. Today, the complex is surrounded by towering high-rise buildings that encroach on a buffer zone that is supposed to protect the building’s heritage value.
The nearby Shangri-La building, soaring 231 metres high, is double the height that would be allowed under important buffer zone changes awaiting state government approval.
Meanwhile, there are fears that historic vegetation is being damaged by the Flower and Garden Show held every March in the gardens that are replete with oaks, elms, planes and Moreton Bay figs that were planted over a century ago. How did we get here?
The first sitting of the Commonwealth parliament at the Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne, 1901.Credit: Matthew Bouwmeester
A look at the building’s history, explored in rich detail by Tony Wright this week, shows the treatment of the Royal Exhibition Building has fluctuated with the changing spirit of the times. As Melbourne’s civic pride has waxed and waned, so too have the fortunes of this building.
Built in the glow of the 19th-century Gold Rush, in the glorious era of Marvellous Melbourne, the Royal Exhibition Building once stood as a beacon of wealth and pride. It played host to the Melbourne International Exhibition in 1880 and then held the first gathering of Australia’s federal parliament in 1901.
During the 1919 Spanish influenza pandemic, the building became a makeshift hospital and morgue, and served as an indelible reminder of poverty and despair. By the mid 20th-century, there was a change in public taste and the old building was nearly smashed to smithereens by the city’s then mayor.
It was thankfully spared the wrecking ball again, in the 1950s, when former premier Henry Bolte demolished swathes of the city’s historic architecture in preparation for the 1956 Olympics. It also narrowly escaped destruction during a fire. The World Heritage listing was pursued in the 1990s to put a stop to this cycle.
It came about after the Liberal Kennett government controversially built the Melbourne Museum just north of the building. The resulting uproar sparked a Melbourne council campaign for World Heritage status, which was pursued by Labor premier Steve Bracks.
Now, we have the listing, and we must honour the obligations that come with it.
Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny should take on the task of improving the governance of the building, with the diffusion of responsibilities over different levels of government leaving the site vulnerable to mismanagement and neglect.
Museums Victoria should not be left to launch desperate online campaigns calling for donations to restore delicate plasterwork and decorative artworks. Once the rescue is complete, its future could be better contemplated including greater incorporation of Indigenous culture to such a central place in our story.
Kilkenny should also fast track the approval of planning amendments that will strengthen Victoria’s World Heritage management plan, so the buffer zone protecting the building and gardens’ historic value is not further eroded.
The Royal Exhibition Building is not merely one of the prettiest buildings in Australia, it is among the remaining vestiges of 19th-century architecture in the world. It is a dazzling monument of an opulent imperial era and the “birthplace” of our federation.
Restoring the building and the gardens has the double effect of restoring the city’s civic pride and reminding us of the moment when Melbourne became a bustling metropolis on the world stage.
Patrick Elligett sends an exclusive newsletter to subscribers each week. Sign up to receive his Note from the Editor.