St Kilda West, Victoria

St Kilda West Melbourne, Victoria
St Kilda West
Coordinates	37°51′37″S 144°58′24″E / 37.8604°S 144.9732°E / -37.8604; 144.9732Coordinates: 37°51′37″S 144°58′24″E / 37.8604°S 144.9732°E / -37.8604; 144.9732
Population	3,162 (2016 census)[1]
• Density	6,590/km2 (17,060/sq mi)
Postcode(s)	3182
Area	0.48 km2 (0.2 sq mi)
Location	5 km (3 mi) from Melbourne CBD
LGA(s)	City of Port Phillip
State electorate(s)	Albert Park
Federal Division(s)	Melbourne Ports
Suburbs around St Kilda West: Middle Park Albert Park St Kilda Port Phillip St Kilda West St Kilda St Kilda St Kilda St Kilda

St Kilda West is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 5 km south of Melbourne's Central Business District. Its local government area is the City of Port Phillip. At the 2016 Census, St Kilda West had a population of 3,162.

St Kilda West is bounded by Albert Park and Canterbury Road in the north, West Beach Road, Scoops Lane and Beaconsfield Parade in the east, Port Phillip Bay in the south, and Fraser Street in the west.

It is a primarily residential area characterised by a mix of medium density terrace housing and flats, dating from the turn of the century to modern hi-rise apartments along the foreshore and closer to near Albert Park. The suburb's community and commercial facilities (including schools and shops) are located in nearby suburbs.

History

The area of St Kilda West was formerly a large swamp which was drained in the early 1870s to facilitate the development of housing which was laid out in regular grid plan and subdivided in stages. Tree lined boulevards were planned for Mary Street and Park Street along which late Victorian and Edwardian terrace housing proved popular.

St Kilda West Post Office opened around March 1879 (from 1886 until 1970 it was known as St Kilda Railway Station office).^[2] St Kilda West was originally part of the City of St Kilda.

Trams connected the area to St Kilda and Melbourne on 31 October 1925. It was connected by tram which originally ran along Mary Street and Beaconsfield Parade. On 8 November 1959 the track along Mary St and Beaconsfield Parade, St Kilda West were abandoned in favour of a short extension along Park Street to Fitzroy Street, St Kilda, route 12's current terminus.^[3]

The railway reservation along Canterbury Road was sold off in the 1990s for townhouse development.

Landmarks

The Canterbury Flats, heritage listed apartment building was the earliest built in Melbourne's suburbs

Newman House

Beaconsfield Hotel, (1880) closed in 2004, the building is a notable landmark with its Italianate towers and has been proposed to be converted into apartments.^[4]

The beach foreshore and Catani Gardens (1906) was planned by Italian civil engineer Carlo Catani with its Edwardian style central rotunda.

The Canterbury flats built on Canterbury Road (1914-1919) by architects H.W. & F.B Tompkins is one of Melbourne's earliest apartment buildings.

The West Beach Bathers Pavilion at West Beach (1928) was adaptively reused as a cafe and opened in 2004.

The Gatwick Private Hotel was previously a boarding house, but was bought and renovated by the television show The Block which airs on Channel 9.

The former Cowderoy Dairy on Cowderoy Street (1932) is an art deco building that has been converted into a popular cafe adjacent to a small central park.

St Kilda War Memorial was erected at Catani Gardens following World War II.

Newman House on Canterbury Road (200) by architect Cassandra Fahey became a pop architecture icon when completed for local celebrity Sam Newman featuring an image of Pamela Anderson's face. Sam did not first obtain council permission, however permits were issued retrospectively when it became a major local landmark and won the award for Best New Residential Building in the RAIA Victorian Architecture awards. Newman never lived in the house and sold it for $1.1 million in mid-2002.^[5]

Open and recreational space

St Kilda War Memorial, Catani Gardens

The suburb has several parks, most notably Catani Gardens and the West Beach foreshore. Other smaller parks include Johnson Reserve on Canterbury Road and the Jacoby Reserve all which have playground facilities for children. The Cummins linear reserve on the median of Beaconsfield Parade and have public toilets. Just outside the suburb are the Albert Park and Lake runs along the suburb's border to the north east and Cleve Gardens and St Kilda foreshore gardens to the south.

Transport

A light rail service near the Fraser Street tram stop

The main thoroughfares are Canterbury Road and Beaconsfield Parade. Both are dual carriageways. Park Street runs along the spine of the suburb and is a single carriageway.

Before conversion to light rail (route 96) in 1987, the rail reserve parallel to Canterbury Road served as the St. Kilda rail line, with services to Flinders Street via Middle Park, Albert Park and South Melbourne. Route 112 was replaced by route 12 on 26 July 2014 as part of a wider timetable change to the Yarra Trams network.^[6]

St Kilda West is serviced by four tram routes:

Notable residents

• Jim Stynes (lived on Mary Street until his death in 2012)^[7]

See also

• City of St Kilda - the former local government area of which St Kilda West was a part

References