Step up for stairs

By Kath Gannaway
THE future direction of the proposed $4.1m Lillydale Regional Museum rests in the hands of Heritage Victoria.
A spokesperson for the historic buildings watchdog confirmed last week it had accepted a nomination for the former Lillydale shire offices building, now part of the Lillydale Museum, to go on the Victorian Heritage Register.
The facade of the building is already listed, but not the interior.
The nomination by Upper Yarra historian Ellena Biggs steps up a campaign to save the 118-year-old building’s internal staircase which would be removed under the proposed re-design.
The Shire of Yarra Ranges is applying for a planning permit for the project which includes a double storey extension behind the existing building.
While the proposed removal of the staircase has raised the ire of a number of history and other community groups throughout the shire, the Lillydale Museum Trust and the shire have defended the new design saying the staircase must go to accommodate space and design features, and to comply with safety regulations.
Ms Biggs argues that the staircase is a significant element of a building which is an integral part of the architecture and cultural heritage of Lilydale and the shire.
President of the National Trust Dandenong Ranges Branch, Ray Boatman told the Mail the branch supported that view.
“It is an essential part of what is an historic building and without it its importance as a heritage building would be lost,” he said.
Betty Marsden, a former Sherbrooke Shire councillor and president of the Save the Dandenongs League agreed but also called for more debate on the issue. “My concern is that while the museum people might have talked among themselves for a long time the decision to remove the staircase was made long before any consultation with the general public and I don’t think that is the right process,” she said.
She said the league opposed removing the staircase but also had concerns about the loss of parkland and that part of the new building would be too close to the 100-year-old Mafeking Tree.
The Heritage Victoria nomination, however, is another thorn in the side of the Museum of Lillydale Trust which is driving the redevelopment.
Chairman Paulette Bisley said members were delighted with the new design and accepted that the staircase had to go.
She said the design looked to the future with a marrying of old and new which would produce a building that worked as a modern museum and was viable.
“We feel very strongly that the Shire of Yarra Ranges should have a world class museum,” Ms Bisley said.
“The Dame Nellie Melba collection is fantastic and the same with the art work. We have a core collection that any museum would be proud of but we can’t show it.”
Ms Bisley said if the stairs were retained they could not be used and would have to be put “under glass”.
Heritage Victoria is in the process of assessing whether the building is of cultural or heritage significance to the state.
Their recommendation will be advertised in the Herald-Sun around mid-July. The public then has 60 days to make a submission before a final decision is made.
Submissions can also be made to the shire in relation to the planning application.