13 December 2024
The very stylish changing pavilion in Fawkner Park was built in 1937, designed by the ‘city architect’ of the City of Melbourne. Fabulous brickwork wrapping round each of the many doors that provided facilities for a variety of sports in what’s quite a large building. I spotted some nice terracotta panels depicting sports but got disappointed when I realised they repeated, only depicting cricket and … volleyball ? Oh it’s a footballer doing a flying mark! The facilities made the news in 1936 for providing for ‘women athletes’ as well as men, though there’s only men in the panels. There’s a second matching one further north, though the courtyard has been filled in, and this one has a separate matching toilet block, now storerooms.
12 December 2024
Wandering down Pasley Street on the eastern side of Fawkner Park, surprised it felt like Kew or Hawthorn with larger Victorian houses on largish blocks. There’s even a mini-mansion with a tower; it was built on 1898 by owner/builder James Baxter. Then there’s three houses in a row all in different styles that look 1880s, but all built in 1896 by builder James McLean: a two-tone brick one, then one with Dutch gables looking a bit Edwardian, and then just a nice house with rather unusual cast iron, looks a bit like Japanese clouds.
Storey of Melbourne 