Work starts on new library

Work starts on new library

Work has started on the $13 million Docklands Library and Community Centre in Victoria Harbour.

Planning Minister, Matthew Guy, Lord Mayor Robert Doyle and Lend Lease’s head of inner urban development, David Rolls, visited the library site last month to celebrate the start of construction.

The celebration started with a smoking ceremony performed by Wurundjeri elder Aunty Diane Kerr.

As Aunty Diane explained, the ceremony was a way of cleansing the site before the new library was built.

The library is being delivered through a partnership between Lend Lease, Places Victoria and the City of Melbourne.

A library was one of the key elements of the Docklands Community and Place Plan, published in July by Places Victoria and the City of Melbourne.

Mr Guy said work to be done over the second decade of Docklands, including the library and community works program, would see the suburb come to life.

“The next stage of this suburb is not about just building great big towers, the next stage of this suburb is about what we’re here to launch, community infrastructure,” Mr Guy said.

Cr Doyle confirmed the second decade of Docklands would involve a greater focus on the community.

“I think the people of Docklands could be forgiven for saying ‘about time, about time’,” Cr Doyle said.

He said the last 10 years had been about getting Docklands up out of the ground and that the second decade would be about “reverse engineering”.

He said this would involve “retrofitting” the infrastructure necessary to build community.

“I think we have here an historic moment for Docklands. It’s when it becomes a community rather than a development site,” the Lord Mayor said.

The library and community centre is set to become one of Australia’s most modern community facilities.

Lend Lease’s David Rolls said the consortium was aiming for a five-star green star rating. The three-storey building is being constructed from engineered timber and reclaimed hardwood.

Features of the library will include a technology hub, a large sheltered outdoor space along the promenade and community meeting rooms.

It is expected that the Docklands Library and Community Centre will be completed by late 2013.

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