Saturday, 7 July 2012
The City of Melbourne has opened its first fully integrated community and cultural space at Southbank, giving local residents a place to create, explore, connect and belong.
Transformed from the heritage-listed former JH Boyd School, Boyd brings together City of Melbourne services such as the Southbank Library, maternal and child health, parenting and family services, a self-service kiosk, Creative Spaces artists studios and the Kere Kere café.
Lord Mayor Robert Doyle today joined past JH Boyd School students and Southbank residents at community day to celebrate the official opening of Boyd.
“Boyd will deliver a range of services for the Southbank community, whether you are a mum with young children, an artist using one of the on-site studios or a resident who’d like to borrow from the library, have a coffee at the café and connect to the local community,” the Lord Mayor said.
“Developing areas like Southbank need community infrastructure and services to keep pace with the needs of a growing population.
“Over the past five years, the population of Southbank grew by about 20 per cent, with 11,200 residents now calling Southbank home.
“As the area continues to grow and evolve, Boyd will become a vital community hub and meeting place for the next generation of Southbank residents.”
The former JH Boyd Girls’ High School site was purchased by the City of Melbourne for $10.5 million in December 2007 to create the first community hub for the fast-growing precinct. Council has invested $9.5 million in the Boyd redevelopment.
The opening of Boyd completes the first stage of the site’s redevelopment. Work to design a 30-storey residential and commercial tower and add a 2500 square metre urban park on the site is underway, and is due to be completed in 2015.
This development will include affordable housing, including accessible units for people with a disability as well as retail and commercial space.
The Lord Mayor was joined at the opening Victorian Minister for Local Government Jeanette Powell.
The State Government contributed $350,000 to establishing the Southbank Library Collection, and Federal Government funded sustainability features including solar panels at a cost of $132,000.
For more information see http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/CommunityServices/CommunityFacilities/Boyd/Pages/Boyd.aspx