Cycloramas are cool. A cyclorama is a 360 degree panoramic painting housed within a building used as a form of entertainment, often accompanied by music and narration to tell a story. Fitzroy had much cool stuff in the past and sadly some of it has been lost to us. One example is a cyclorama that once stood on Victoria Parade at the corner of Fitzroy St, where the entertainment was about the 1815 Battle of Waterloo.…
Archive for the category: Victoria Parade
Fitzroy history – vagrant hipsters
In the 1920s a bunch of 20somethings got busted for being young and liberated. Being without visible financial means of support was a crime – vagrancy – so being young and poor meant being at odds with the establishment, but for once the court was lenient and pragmatic.
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Fitzroy history – from hotel to hospital
The former Eastern Hill hotel and, before that, the Belvidere hotel on the corner of Brunswick St and Victoria Parade was the headquarters of the eight hour day labour movement that began in 1856, for which we can all be grateful. Built in 1853 and altered in 1866, it is now part of the medical precinct surrounding St Vincent’s hospital.
Courtesy of SLV / ID: H84.276/2/26B / photographer: Colin Caldwell / copyright: expired – image is in the public domain / c1949…
a facade of heritage values
When I wrote recently about the doomed art deco warehouse on the corner of Brunswick St and Victoria Parade I did not realise how doomed it was, and did not expect it to be demolished before the end of the year. As reported by Melbourne Heritage Watch and Bosco Parrasio, the demolition began on 2 December and continued for several days. I took these photos on Saturday 5 December, when it appeared that the tower and front facade were being retained.…
Fitzroy history – the doomed art deco warehouse
Update 3 December 2009: according to Melbourne Heritage Watch, this building was demolished yesterday…
According to the Art Deco society, this building began as the engine house for the cable tram that ran up Brunswick St and St George’s Rd from Victoria Parade to Holden St from the 1886 until its final trip in 1930. It received a moderne makeover in 1936 when it was converted into a wine warehouse. A nomination to protect the building by adding it to the Victorian Heritage Register was rejected and it seems likely to be demolished and replaced with a multistorey building.…
Fitzroy history – the final cable tram ride down Brunswick St in 1930
This story, from the The Argus, Monday 14 July 1930, p9, reports on the last trip up Brunswick St and St George’s Rd, from Victoria Parade to Holden St, made by a cable tram the previous Saturday night. A temporary bus service was run on the route while it was electrified.
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