Lygon Street Precinct A
495-511 & 500-522 LYGON STREET BRUNSWICK EAST, MERRI-BEK CITY
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Statement of Significance
The Lygon Street Precinct A area is a located at the northern end of Lygon Street, close to its intersection with Albion Street. The precinct comprises a row of interwar single and two storey shops on the west side of Lygon Street (500-522 Lygon Street) and an interwar dance hall and cinema on the east side (495-497 Lygon Street). It also includes the laneway which abuts the cinema on the south and west sides of the buildings.
- The former Liberty Theatre at 495 Lygon Streetas a landmark building
The Lygon Street Precinct A is of historical and aesthetic significance to the City of Merri-bek
The Lygon Street Precinct A area is historically significant as it is representative of a small shopping strip developed principally in the period of rapid economic and residential growth within Merri-bek between c1920-1935. This precinct in particular was influenced by growth in adjacent Coburg, once it was deemed a City in 1922. The residential housing stock which surrounds this precinct (but is beyond the precinct itself) is predominately post World War One, and was constructed within the same c.1920-1935 timeframe. It is of particular historical significance for its capacity to illustrate one of two major phases of development in the Municipality; the economic and residential 'boom' within Merri-bek following the First World War. (Criterion A & C)
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Lygon Street Precinct A - Physical Description 1
Precinct A is situated at the north end of Lygon Street, Brunswick East, just south of Albion Street.
On the west side is the former Liberty Picture Theatre and dance hall, with a bluestone pitched laneway along its south boundary. Situated across from it, and extending northward to Albion Street, is a row of 11 single and double-storey shops, most of them built in pairs or larger groups during the 1920s to early 1930s.
The former cinema is a freestanding building, which strengthens its landmark character. It has red brick walls with cement render dressings, and a gabled hip roof, which is largely concealed from Lygon Street by a parapet. The building has a simple, classical-inspired style, as was popular in the 1920s. This is seen in the engaged pilasters, pedimented parapet, and dentil and modillion mouldings beneath the cornice and central bank of windows, respectively.
The ground floor has modern shopfronts and the entire facade has rendered in recent times.
The shops on the east side of the street were built in four or five groups. The first pair, Nos 500-502, are single-storey red brick shops with rendered parapets. The parapets intersperse simple rectangular and semi-circular forms with a simple square-run moulding at the top. There is a similar square-edged moulding along the tops of the rectangular parapets at Nos 504-510, suggesting that they may be the work of the same builder (and the same red brick was used). These four two-storey shops are labelled with the date '1924' and name 'W.H.N. Bls.' [Buildings] at the centre of the row. They have an inset panel of red brick at the centre of the parapet, above a rectangular opening creating an inset balcony. Original frosted multipane windows and doors are visible on the balconies of Nos 504 & 506.
The next shop, No 512, is the only single built one in the row. It is single-storey, with a rendered facade, and simple parapet with basic classical ornament including flattened pilasters and modillions.
The single-storey shops at Nos 514-518 were built together and both have rendered parapets with pilasters and curved sides. While No 518 is a narrow shop, Nos 514 & 516 share a single parapet, giving them more presence in the streetscape.
The final pair of shops, Nos 520-522, were the latest to be constructed in the precinct, probably in the early 1930s. They have finely detailed parapets with raised borders and lines in red brick set on clinker bricks, as well as a soldier course of clinker bricks at the top.
All but the shop at No 518 retain their cantilevered verandahs, in varying states of repair. Nos 500-504 all have retained unpainted cement render, and No 520 has an unpainted red and clinker brick parapet. Nos 506 and 510 retains original shopfronts with decorative copper framings with leadlight highlights to No 510, while Nos 500, 512 & 522 have sympathetic postwar shopfronts.
Apart from the replacement of the other shopfronts and over painting of most of the rendered and brick parapets, alterations include the infilling of the recessed balconies to Nos 508 & 510 and replacement of the verandah with a fabric awning at No 518.
Condition: The precinct is in good condition -all of the shops are in generally good condition.
Integrity: The precinct retains a high degree of integrity
Heritage Study and Grading
Moreland - Lygon Street Heritage Study Stage 2
Author: Context Pty Ltd
Year: 2012
Grading: Local
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RESIDENCEVictorian Heritage Register H1219
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SOUTH BRUNSWICK BRICKWORKSVictorian Heritage Inventory
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FORMER BRUNSWICK CABLE TRAM DEPOT PRECINCTVictorian Heritage Inventory
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