Council backs South Melbourne Town Hall revamp into $65m music academy

Key points

• City of Port Philip has backed a $65 million bid to redevelop the South Melbourne Town Hall and turn it into a music academy. 
• The redevelopment would involve a long term lease of the building to the Australian National Academy of Music.
• There are concerns the long-term lease may exclude some community groups from using the facility.

A bid to redevelop the heritage-listed South Melbourne Town Hall into a private music academy has been backed by the local council, but left some community groups concerned the long-term lease may exclude them from using the public facility.

The hall has sat empty since 2020 after a roof collapse in 2018, and the COVID-19 pandemic left the building dormant and in a state of disrepair.

The Academy’s Nick Bailey inside the South Melbourne Town Hall with musicians Jamie Miles, Isabella Thomas and Alexandra King.Credit:Justin McManus

The City of Port Phillip voted on Wednesday night to advance with plans to give a 35-year lease of South Melbourne Town Hall to the Australian National Academy of Music.

The Academy has pledged an initial $20.5 million to turn the site into a rehearsal and performance space for its students, with opportunities for partnerships with arts festivals and community organisations.

General manager of ANAM, Nick Bailey, said he was excited about the prospect of injecting new life into the building.

“The hall doesn’t serve a civic function anymore. What we’re endeavouring to do is give it a reason to be here and make it a place for community and cultural activity,” he said.

Bailey said the building’s thick walls, high ceilings and abundance of space made it a perfect venue for musical performances.

“If you’re designing a music school from a blank piece of paper, it would look like this,” he said.

The council will undertake six weeks of community consultation to hear feedback from residents and relevant stakeholders.

Previous attempts by the academy to take over the town hall have been met with opposition from some community members.

Concerns have been raised by local advocacy group Save Albert Park, a tenant in the hall since 2009, before it was forced out at the start of the pandemic.

Save Albert Park president Peter Goad said he wanted to ensure continued access to the town hall for community groups and the public.

“The current community hub which houses our meeting room and offices for community groups will no longer be available,” Goad said.

“We are very disturbed about this because we have a whole lot of equipment that we can’t get access to readily.”

Goad said the council did not need to lease the entire town hall to the music academy.

“The easiest option for them is to hand over the town hall to the Academy of Music because that’s the cheapest option,” he said.

It is unclear if tenants would be allowed to keep their rooms at the same hiring price once the proposed renovations are completed.

Bailey said the venue will still hold a strong place in public life, with a 50 per cent discount on rooms available for community hire, free ANAM membership for Port Phillip residents and a cultural fund, in which $1 from every concert ticket will support local arts endeavours.

The Australian National Academy of Music wants to redevelop the South Melbourne Town Hall.Credit:Justin McManus

The proposal received unanimous support at the council meeting on Wednesday night.

Councillor Peter Martin said: “This is going to restore the jewel in the crown in the City of Port Phillip.”

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