Moreton Bay fig tree on Cleve Gardens. This triangular reserve in West St Kilda, bounded by Beaconsfield Pde, Fitzroy St and Acland St, was a traditional gathering place of First Nations Peoples. (Media Gerome Villarete Melbourne)

Life On Our Former Swamp

We are building a collection of stories about West St Kilda – stories from the distant to the recent past, the historical as well as anecdotal, the slightly amusing to the highly entertaining!

Share insights on how our suburb has evolved, including glimpses of our Aboriginal heritage, the arrival of Europeans, Gold Rush, the booming Victorian & Edwardian times, austere World War years, the enduring influence of post-1950’s immigration, the notorious 80’s & 90’s, and the postmodern gentrification since the late 90’s.

Bay Totem (2001) by Artist Peter Blizzard. Image Robert Hamer

Emerging Together

The aim of the public commemorative sculpture fountain project, commissioned jointly by Port Phillip City and West St Kilda Residents Association, was to mark one hundred years of Australian nationhood around a theme that may be described as emerging together—a concept equally relevant to Australia in the next one hundred years as we tackle the remaining tests of tolerance and reconciliation.

The water element is symbolic of continuity and an ongoing process of calmness and healing.