Memo Hall to get a facelift
Memorial Hall, or Memo Hall as it is fondly called, is shortly to be redeveloped into a 350-seat theatre together with 18 apartments in a brand-new building behind the Army and Navy Club on Acland Street. Underneath the apartments at the back of the hall will be 20 car parking spaces. Space for commercial ventures on the ground floor of the club on Acland Street will be retained and a new food outlet will be incorporated on the corner of Albert and Carlisle Streets.
The refurbishment of Memo Hall and the façade of the Army and Navy Club will cost $2.2 million with the remainder of the $7 million budget going towards the construction of the 18 apartments.
The St Kilda Memorial Hall Trustees own Memo Hall and plan to retain the existing number of units for ex-service men and women already living in the building. Two existing units will be replaced by brand-new apartments. The redevelopment of the hall is being financed by the new development. The hall hire fees and the café lease will provide a much needed on-going income stream to pay for the maintenance of the heritage buildings as well as the spot purchase of units for returned servicemen and women in the area.
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HEAT wins PM Award
HEAT- Hospitality Employment and Training - a Port Melbourne training program in hospitality skills for unemployed and disengaged young people has won the Prime Minister's Award for Excellence in Community Partnerships, Business Category Award.
In 2005 the City of Port Phillip was instrumental in securing a total of $540,000 in funding for HEAT over the following three years - $300,000 from the William Buckland Foundation and $240,000 from the Felton Trust. Alfred Felton was a Victorian industrialist who lived out his last days at the Esplanade Hotel in St Kilda which bears a plaque noting this fact. HEAT was developed by a consortium involving the council, William Angliss, Victoria Police, the Inner Eastern Local Learning and Employment Network and the Metropol and is managed by St Kilda Youth Services.
HEAT is based at an old council building at 81 Liardet Street in Port Melbourne and this is where they learn responsible serving of alcohol and how to apply for jobs. The program also involves two days-a-week training at William Angliss in the city and a two-week work placement in local cafes, restaurants and bars. The course is free and students are supplied with free uniforms.
St Kilda restaurateur and TV chef, Iain 'Huey' Hewitson, is HEAT's patron and last year filmed an episode of Hueys Cooking Adventures with HEAT trainees at their Port Melbourne base. Together they produced dishes using the fresh produce form the HEAT vegetable gardens. The program went to air nationally on Channel 10 on December 18.
See HEAT programs for more information.
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