Cultural Management Plan Princes Park Grandstand

Published on 30 October 2020

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Central Goldfields Shire Council is seeking a suitable qualified consultant to prepare a Cultural Management Plan (CMP) for the Princes Park Grandstand in Maryborough.

The CMP was recommended in 2002 as part of the Princes Park Conservational Analysis and Master Plan. 

The Princes Park Grandstand is listed by the Victorian Heritage Register (VHR), as a heritage place (H1880) and the heritage management of the place is administered under the Victorian Heritage Act 2017.  The site is also covered by the Heritage Overlay HO166 Princes Park.

Central Goldfields Shire Chief Administrator Noel Harvey said Council is committed to recognising and protecting the community’s heritage buildings.

“The Grandstand is an iconic landmark in Maryborough and is the backdrop to community sport and the award-winning Energy Breakthrough event.

“The preparation of a Cultural Management Plan will provide guidance for the conservation and heritage management of the facility so that it is preserved for future generations.”

The Conservation Management Plan – Princes Park Grandstand tender is currently being advertised.

Tender documents can be downloaded from e-Procure, accessible via Council’s website www.centralgoldfields.vic.gov.au/tenders

Applications close 18 November, 2020.

Background: 

The 1895 grandstand in Princes Park is of architectural significance as an important design of the long established and notable architectural firm, Thomas Watts and Sons.

The grandstand uses extensive turned wood decoration and is an early example of all timber decoration that became more widespread in late Victorian and the Edwardian period.

The Grandstand is the only example of this type of building by Thomas Watts and Sons, and was modelled on the 1886 South Melbourne grandstand designed by William Elliot Wells which was destroyed by fire in 1926 and a similar grandstand at Victoria Park, Collingwood which was demolished in 1966.