Port Phillip Council considers new 5,000-capacity live music venue for St Kilda

Melbourne’s City of Port Phillip council is considering a new 5,000 standing capacity live music venue to be sited next to the Palais Theatre as part of the St Kilda Triangle.

Having recently declared the area as Victoria’s first Live Music Precinct, the Council will be discussing the proposal at its upcoming 6th September meeting.

The Live Music Precinct echoes the Special Entertainment Precincts found in Queensland and NSW, most notably in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley.

Located next to Melbourne’s Palais Theatre, the Council has described the planned venue will fill the gap in Melbourne for a purpose-built indoor live music and performance venue for up to 5,000 patrons.

Explaining that it also contains an outdoor space, crucial for its multi-functionality, City of Port Phillip Mayor, Heather Cunsolo advised “we’ve spoken to music industry experts from venues and promoters to performers to gauge the feasibility of this creative concept, and they say it would help address a critical shortage of medium-large live music spaces.

“We now need to hear what our community thinks before deciding whether to progress this plan for the Triangle to play an even bigger role in St Kilda’s live music scene.”

Mayor Cunsolo added “this concept is also about providing beautiful, well-designed outdoor space for locals and visitors which complements the much-loved ‘slopes’ and provides a pedestrian connection to the foreshore.”

The designs also feature mostly standing capacity with a focus on dancing, and state-of-the-art acoustics.

A series of elevated terraces, balconies and rooftops will offer a scenic view, with sightlines to be respected.

Welcoming the proposal, Mushroom Group Chief Executive, Matt Gudinski commented “the concept of building a new purpose-built venue at the site has long been discussed and would be great news for St Kilda and our entire local music scene.

“We have a thriving community of homegrown artists and amazing venues across our state. To ensure our local scene remains as strong as ever we need to be constantly developing quality, new venues for Victoria to retain its status as the live music capital of Australia.”

Fitzroy Street Business Association President David Blakeley “(the) Association welcomes Port Phillip Council’s investigation into a much-needed live music venue for the St Kilda Triangle. We believe what’s being proposed would drive local trade while improving social amenity. This venue would also strengthen St Kilda’s long lasting live music connection. Locals deserve a Triangle that acknowledges the entertainment history of the site while looking forward to a new future.”

If a decision is made on 6th September to take the concept out to community consultation, this will be undertaken from 7th September to 19th October. A report informed by this consultation would then go to the Council later in the year to help decide what next steps, if any, should be taken.

Given the civic nature and the scale of a potential new live music/performance venue on Crown Land, progressing the project from an idea to implementation would rely heavily on strong engagement and buy in from the Victorian Government.

10 elements of the proposed venue

1: The site has a long history of being a hub of entertainment, with the Palais de Danse historically located next to the Palais Theatre until 1969 when it was destroyed by fire. The Palace Nightclub was built in its place in 1971. Unfortunately, this building was also impacted by fire and was closed in 2007 and demolished.

2: The site of the new venue has been chosen as the most appropriate location based on historical uses of the site, such as the former Palais de Danse, and to respect key views from The Esplanade to the north and west. The indicative building envelope’s north-west corner has been shaped to respect views from The Esplanade to the bay.

3: Space for 5000 standing capacity with a mezzanine or balcony carrying 1000 of this capacity. Some seating capacity would likely be needed. This would fill the current gap in the market identified by the industry as the ‘sweet spot’.

4: Indicative building footprint - 9,650 metre² that includes an area of 7000 metre² of space for the main venue use, an additional multi-purpose/additional venue space for 350 capacity, and other activation uses (bars/café and possible rehearsal spaces).

5: The venue is shown with an indicative height of 20 metres (AHD) to preserve views of the Palais’ roofline and facade to the north. This can be compared with the Palais Theatre which has a maximum height at the roof parapet of 32.11 metres (AHD).

6: Public open space of 7,250 metre² - that includes circulation spaces, an area of lawn or a park, terraced steps to the level of the lawn creating an amphitheatre and opportunities for outdoor performances and events, possibilities for a pavilion for public use, and native landscape zones.

7: 200 car parks located under the venue.

8: 40 additional at grade car parks behind the Palais Theatre.

9: Enhances the connections between Acland Street, Luna Park and the Palais through to the foreshore.

10: Achieves the spirit and intent of the 2016 Masterplan but responds to current context and current needs.

Images: Indicative drawing of the proposed live music venue (top) and St Kilda Triangle annotated illustration (below). Credit: Port Phillip Council.