BENDIGO'S National Trust branch wants more details about proposed gallery renovations in one of the oldest parts of town.
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Branch president Peter Cox is uneasy about the double-storey white edifice depicted in the artistic impressions released by the City of Greater Bendigo on Tuesday.
"What would concern me would be a two-storey development sticking out," he said.
Mr Cox cautioned he was yet to see detailed designs or consult in depth with National Trust members.
But on Wednesday morning he stood at the bottom of View Street examining building profiles, including the gallery.
The gallery section earmarked for renovation is wedged between the Capital Theatre and Bolton Court - an original section of the gallery that would remain visible from the street if the renovations go ahead.
The Bendigo Advertiser has obtained a previously unreleased artist's impression giving a broader sense of how the renovation would look compared to both heritage buildings (see pictures above and below).
The council's heritage consultants are yet to complete their assessment of the gallery designs, despite handing over a raft of other planning documents.
Heritage consultants would finish off their report "as soon as possible", the council's planning consultants said.
Both city planners and Heritage Victoria would need to be satisfied with plans before renovations could go ahead.
"The works will enhance views and landmarks through the setting back of the new gallery building enabling views to Bolton Court and the Capital Theatre," planning consultants told the council.
It had deliberately been designed to be shorter than the Capital Theatre.
A facade out the front would likely incorporate Indigenous designs and landscapers wanted to use an "old language" inspired by Traditional Owners' connection to Country.
"The building itself has been designed by one of the country's most respected architectural firms and draws on the historical context of the site's immediate surrounds and Greater Bendigo more broadly," the consultants told city planners.
The design is strikingly different from everything else nearby - so much so that the council's consultants say it would give the gallery "landmark" status, architecturally.
Parts of the current gallery have a modern design but use red bricks to help blend in with the streetscape.
A renovation that gets the gallery's design wrong could undermine a street that is almost entirely filled with buildings dating back to Bendigo's past, Mr Cox warned.
He has also urged the council to consult more widely on its plans, especially given inflation had driven its estimated cost up by as much as $20 million.
For $48 million, Mr Cox said the council should be giving the community more options for where money is directed.
The National Trust is lobbying multiple levels of government for Pall Mall, including potentially extending the View Street arts precinct down the hill and encouraging more pedestrians.
Those sorts of ideas could make the renovation an even greater experience for tourists, Mr Cox said.
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Tom O'Callaghan
I grew up in Bendigo and I want to tell your stories.
I grew up in Bendigo and I want to tell your stories.
