Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews put a smile on the faces of arts lovers across Melbourne yesterday with the announcement of a major series of upgrades to the Southbank’s arts precinct, cementing the city's status as Australia's cultural capital.
The jewel in the crown of this facelift will be the NGV Contemporary, a new gallery to be built on the site of the Carlton and United Breweries, adjacent to the National Gallery of Victoria, opposite the Southbank Theatre and Melbourne Recital Centre. When completed, it will be the nation’s largest modern art gallery.
“This is a very, very exciting project,” Andrews said. “And it’s not a question of whether it will happen. This is going to happen, and the first stage is already fully funded.”
The State Government allocated $150 million in the May budget to purchase the land, with further funding to be announced at a later date. More dollars are to be raised though “Melbourne’s philanthropic community.”
An artist rendering of the improved public spaces around Southbank
In addition to the new building projects, the surrounding areas will also be transformed, with new green spaces, improved infrastructure and public areas that will connect the precinct from the Hamer Hall on the banks of the Yarra, through to the institutions on Sturt Street, including the University of Melbourne’s new Ian Potter Centre, a state of the art music conservatorium, currently under construction.
The ambitious project will also tend to existing arts facilities, including upgrades to the theatres at the Arts Centre, an expanded Australian Music Vault, and a new hub for small-to-medium arts organisations.
The project is set to create more than 10,000 jobs in the construction phase and another 260 jobs after completion. The works are projected to finish by 2025.
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