We are currently developing a long-term Campus Master Plan which will help shape the School campus for decades to come.
One of our goals under our Strategic Direction: Towards 2030 is to develop, engaging and contemporary places for learning that reflect our values, spark curiosity and enhance wellbeing.
To achieve that goal, we are currently developing a long-term Campus Master Plan which will help shape the School campus for decades to come. We are also embarking on a number of significant projects to improve the facilities available to our students in the short term.
The first of these is the Redevelopment of St George’s Church. You can read more about this exciting project below. We will publish regular updates on the project and will also be adding new projects as they are closer to commencement.
You can also assist the School with this, and other important projects, by donating to our Building Fund. Find out more here.
In very exciting news, the redevelopment of St George’s Church as our new Performing Arts Centre is nearing completion. Virtually all structural work has finished and fit-out has commenced.
Progress on the project has been slower than expected due to the impact of unusually wet weather, global supply chain issues and general shortages of materials and labour in the building industry. However, it has been possible to make rapid progress in recent weeks.
The stained-glass windows have been restored and reinstalled and they look magnificent. Restoration was carried out by Robert Rusev Stained Glass, leaders in heritage and ecclesiastical conservation services for stained-glass. Robert himself undertook most of the restoration work. There is no doubt that they will be a unique feature of the Performing Arts Centre. An opportunity still exists to celebrate your family’s connections to St Michael’s by supporting a window. You can find out more here.
Over the past few weeks the heritage organ has been carefully reassembled by Australian Pipe Organs, whose team of master craftsman is recognised Australia-wide. The organ will be tuned in January.
The special ‘sprung’ floor for dance performances has been laid and the new hardwood floor is being installed in the rest of the building. Carpet has been laid in the tiered seating and the seats were expected to arrive before Christmas. In 2023 we will let the extended St Michael’s community know how they can have a special place in the Performing Arts Centre by choosing a seat to support and having their name on the seat.
Final elements to be completed are the sound and lighting systems. These were dependent on the commissioning of a new substation, as collectively, they draw a significant amount of power. Work on the substation is virtually complete and it is expected that the sound and lighting systems will be operational by February 2023.
It is anticipated that the redevelopment will finish in March. With that in mind we are planning an official opening in late April 2023. All at the School are looking forward to seeing the first performances in the wonderful new space which will be known as the Performing Arts Centre, St George’s.
The opening of the St Michael’s Performing Arts Centre, St George’s, is an exciting first step in a long-term plan to redevelop our campus.
It is a showbusiness adage that the show must go on and so it is with our St George’s Redevelopment project. Construction on this exciting project to transform this wonderful, but no longer fit for purpose, heritage property into a multi-purpose performance and rehearsal space commenced in January this year.
Much has been achieved in the intervening six months despite the trials and challenges of building in a not-yet-post pandemic world that has impacted supply chains and of course the wet weather. Early in the project it became apparent that drainage issues had caused the soil under the Church to become waterlogged and it was necessary to take significant remedial action. Once that was completed it was possible to proceed with internal fit out.
The floor was removed and footings prepared for the raked theatre seating which will be a feature of the new space. Concrete foundations for the seating have now been poured and framing of the seating has commenced. Work has begun to install new flooring and structural steel to support our Audio-Visual systems. As part of the project the foyer has also been enlarged and reconfigured to allow it to function as both a box office and a classroom.
An especially sensitive part of the project has been the restumping of the historic organ made by Lewis & Sons of London. The organ is of exceptional quality and will be a unique feature of the new performing arts space. On the advice of a leading organ expert, it was deemed better to progressively restump the floor under the organ rather than remove the organ and reinstall it. This work was delicately done and has also been completed.
Another unique feature of the redeveloped space will be the magnificent stained-glass windows, which are currently being restored. The restoration of the windows is supported by generous donors who can celebrate their relationship with St Michael’s by choosing a window to support and having their gift acknowledged on a plaque adjacent to ‘their’ window. You can find out more about supporting a window here.
With much of the internal structural work nearing completion attention will turn to fit-out, including the installation of the state-of-the-art sound and lighting systems and the special sprung floor. While good progress has been made overall, the project has been slightly delayed owing to longer than expected lead times on some equipment arriving from overseas. It is anticipated that the project will be completed early in Term 1 2023.
For an insight into the importance of this project to St Michael’s watch this video.
And for more background on the redevelopment see the story below.
St Michael’s acclaimed Performing Arts program is about to enter a new era with plans in place for an exciting new immersive theatrical space to be available to students by early 2023.
The School is justifiably proud of its Performing Arts program which both nurtures students of outstanding talent and encourages all students to discover the joy of creativity. In recent years the Performing Arts program has been based in the heritage-listed St George’s Church. This much-loved building has a rich history as a vibrant hub for the community. However, over time the building has degraded making it increasingly unfit for the School’s purpose and putting at risk its distinctive heritage features.
We are therefore delighted that, in 2022, St George’s will be redeveloped to house state-of-the-art performance facilities, including a 400 seat auditorium. The design will leave intact the original fabric of the building and preserve the many heritage features, so that on completion the Church will be a striking blend of tradition and innovation.
The refurbishment will benefit our students by providing high quality dedicated facilities for Music, Drama and the Performing Arts as well as much-needed space for general School use.
The former St George’s Presbyterian Church has been a part of the St Michael’s campus since it was originally leased in 1987. In 1991 it was first used as a Music School and the precinct has subsequently become the home of the Performing Arts program at St Michael’s. The School purchased the Church and surrounding buildings in 2013.
When the refurbishment is completed, the Church will provide much needed, enhanced facilities including:
Not only will the new facilities provide an enhanced student experience they will result in considerable savings on venue hire, reduce disruption to student learning and reduce risk as students will no longer need to travel to as many external venues. Additional functional venue space will be available for the School, an important factor on a campus where space is at a premium.
The project is integral in facilitating our Strategic Direction: Towards 2030 which includes developing engaging and contemporary spaces for learning and providing enhanced opportunities for us to develop strategic partnerships with key cultural, business and community organisations.
The refurbishment is also intended to highlight the Church’s history and its importance to the community. Its intended use as a Performing Arts Centre echoes the early strong musical tradition of the Church. It also offers the opportunity for increased public access which would again allow the community to view the many outstanding architectural features for which the Church is celebrated.
There is also potential to generate a commercial revenue stream through venue hire. The venue should have broad appeal given its evocative setting and the intended quality of the performance facilities.
Some of the important heritage features of the refurbishment are:
The refurbishment of St George’s Church is an ambitious and exciting project that will not only allow our students to benefit from a modern, state-of-the-art performance facility but it will open-up an important and much-loved heritage building to the community.
Work is expected to commence in early 2022 with a completion date of early 2023.
Mr Farai Mufuka
Director of Business
Telephone: 03 8530 3275
Email: fmufuka@stmichaels.vic.edu.au
