Victoria Harbour Talks

The ground slab of the Docklands Library and Community Centre completed last month and the focus of the project now shifts to the suspended timber structure. Installation of Cross Laminated Timber is underway with both Lift Cores completed. The columns and beams to the eastern zone have gone in and the first suspended floor is in progress.

Click on our live webcam for more images or for more information, download the Docklands Library & Community Centre & CLT fact sheet from the library section of this website, or contact vicharbourfeedback@lendlease.com  

You can now access live feeds by webcam, the construction progress of the Docklands Library and Community Centre. Check it out and click on the webcam image on this website www.victoriaharbourtalks.com.au .

More information about the Docklands Library and Community Centre project is available from the fact sheet in the library section of this website. Alternatively, email your feedback, questions and comments to vicharbourfeedback@lendlease.com or contact Shirley Bateman from the Library Services team at the City of Melbourne, email shirley.bateman@melbourne.vic.gov.au or tel 03 9658 9607. 

The Docklands Bolte Bolt is a 5 km run or walk hosted by YMCA. Races are held every second Thursday, commencing at 1230pm in Docklands Park. Entrants are allocated a time based handicap and placed in to one of nine groups: 4/5/6/7 min per km runners, and walkers. The route crosses the Yarra at Webb Bridge and follows the Yarra to the Bolte Bridge and back again.

Dates for the winter series have commenced through to the 1st August 2013.

This event is free to participate in, however a gold coin donation is collected at each race with all proceeds going to the YMCA Open Doors appeal. YMCA Open Doors is the benevolent arm of the YMCA in Victoria, created for the specific purpose of ensuring greater access for all to the Y's extensive health and wellbeing programs and services.

For more information, please contact by email: billy.santos@ymca.org.au

Docklands Yacht Club warmly invites you to Come and Try Sailing between 11am and 4pm, on the 2nd and 4th Sunday of each month, year round. Shed 2 is next to the old Control Tower, look for the blue and yellow shade sails.

For more information, please contact David Ashburner by email docklandsyachtclub@gmail.com or visit the club website.

The site of the Docklands Library & Community Centre comes alive in more ways than one. As you approach the site along Victoria Harbour Promenade, you will see an eclectic educational display on the hoarding. Featuring an indigenous mural by Dixon Patten, street art by AWOL Collective, heritage maps of Melbourne and community art from the recent Kids Teaching Kids Conference.

Infrastructure works continue on site including construction of a new timber deck along the wharf edge. Practical completion of the Docklands Library and Community Centre is expected in late 2013. 

Works have commenced on the new Docklands Library and Community Centre, with the ambitious project set to deliver Australia's most modern library. Aunty Diane Kerr from the Wurundjeri Tribe conducted a traditional Smoking Ceremony and  Welcome to Country to commemorate the occasion. In addition, the first two books were donated to the library collection:

• Under the Hook: Melbourne Waterside Workers Remember 1900-1998 by Wendy Lowenstein & Tom Hills
• Melbourne: A Love Affair by Matt Irwin

The project kicks off as new statistics show the Melbourne Library Service is as popular as ever with more than a million visits per year during the 2011-12 financial year. Delivered through a unique partnership between Lend Lease, Places Victoria and the City of Melbourne, the library will be constructed using engineered timber and reclaimed hardwood.

The library and community centre will offer an interactive learning environment and house a state of the art digital collection, multi-purpose community spaces and a performance venue that will hold 120 people.  Connections to Docklands' rich history will be embraced and celebrated with facilities tailored to support local historical research and educational experiences.

On completion in late 2013, residents, workers and visitors will have a first class library to visit and enjoy, bringing together the old and the new with everything from tablets to the classics of literature.

Download and read the Docklands Library and community centre fact sheet September 2012

Many thanks to participants who took the time to complete the online Docklands Library survey.

A brief summary of the feedback is listed below:

• You like the location at the intersection of Bourke & Collins Street
• You welcome a new community facility in Docklands 
• You are keen to ensure the library & community centre caters for disabled and non english speaking visitors and new migrants
• You would like the library to have adult education courses such as cooking and languages
• You want to make sure the library and community centre integrates with public space so as to enable community, sports, art and other family activities.

All your suggestions, thoughts and comments have been provided to the Library Services Team at the City of Melbourne who will manage the Docklands Library & Community Centre.

If you would like to provide more feedback, please email shirley.bateman@melbourne.vic.gov.au or vicharbourfeedback@lendlease.com or contact the Library Services team at the City of Melbourne on tel 03 9658 0000.

A wharfie hook belonging to the late Ron Clyde of Port Melbourne, a waterside worker for 40 years, was generously donated by Mr & Mrs Barry Amy to the Docklands Library and Community Centre. The hook was presented to Lend Lease at a Christmas in July lunch hosted by Ted Fowler, President of the Retired Waterside Workers Federation on 14 July in West Melbourne for members, family and friends. At 94 years of age, Ted cooked a three course meal for 30 people. Members continue to meet socially each Thursday fortnight since their retirements 25-30 years ago.

The wharfie hook is a symbol of life on the docks. Find out more about the importance of the wharfie hook in "Under the Hook: Melbourne Waterside Workers Remember 1900-1998" by Wendy Lowenstein & Tom Hills. Copies will be available in the heritage section of the Docklands Library & Community Centre.

Members of the Retired Waterside Workers Federation returned to Docklands on 31 May for a visit to their former workplace when Victoria Harbour was once a working port. A morning tea was held at Etihad Stadium to celebrate the group's participation in the Docklands Oral History Project led by Dr Moira Scollay and supported by Peter Crowley. Strong comraderie and tough working conditions and are key themes. The rich stories captured will be shared and help inform the heritage section of the Docklands Library and Community Centre. The project is due to be completed in August 2012 and will include an audio-visual component.

Primary school students can discover Victoria Harbour's history and sustainability features by participating in a Scavenger Hunt excursion activity. The kit includes a teacher's guide, pre and post excursion activities and student worksheets.

The activities are targeted at Year 5 primary (VELS) and may also suit school holiday/vacation care programs.

You can download the free resources from the library section of this website.

Please let us know what you think of the school kits and contact us for a completion certificate by email: vicharbourfeedback@lendlease.com