Major Projects at St Michael’s

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.

A new era of Performing Arts

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.

 

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Benefits to our students

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:

• A flexible auditorium which can be adapted for multiple uses and which can be modified to accommodate future needs.
• A performance space that can respond to the diverse performance requirements across a range of art forms including dance, drama and solo and group musical performances.
• A high-quality sound system that supports a range of performance opportunities.
• Sympathetic and effective lighting solutions which not only enhance performances and productions, but which highlight and celebrate existing and new architectural features.
• A sprung floor suitable for dance performance and aerobics.
• A new and inviting foyer providing an accessible and attractive entrance to the Church, professional box office facilities and additional classroom space.

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 Performing Arts has been a particular strength of St Michael’s almost since its founding and we are enormously proud of the achievements of our current and past students in music, theatre, dance and beyond.Mrs Terrie Jones, Head of the School

History and Heritage

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 restoration of the 32 magnificent stained-glass windows.
• Refurbishment of the historically significant organ. (The organ by Lewis & Sons of London is one of only 5 imported to Australia and is the oldest surviving organ still is use in Australia. It has been lauded for its exceptional quality).
• Restoration of the magnificent timber ceiling.
• Relocation of the historical honour boards and plaques to the Northern entrance to allow them to be more accessible to the community. (This includes the historically significant Honour Board currently located in the vestibule but hidden from view, commemorating the 20 men of the 14th Battalion who died in the First World War and the 89 who served).

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.

 

For all enquiries, please contact:

Mr Farai Mufuka
Director of Business
Telephone: 03 8530 3275
Email: fmufuka@stmichaels.vic.edu.au