Berwick Primary School
Project
The project involved the conversion of a school building and grounds into a community centre, cafe and public park. The works at Pioneer Park involved:
- Demolition of many recent additions
- Retention of original school building and attached 1970s addition for adaptive reuse
- Retention of several significant trees
- Substantial landscaping and planting to create a formal town park.
Site
Located in Berwick, one of Melbourne’s outer south-eastern suburbs, the former Berwick Primary School was built in 1869-70. The original school was composed of a one-room brick school, which was retained and used until the school’s closure in 2003. The site is in close proximity to the town centre of Berwick and was acquired by the City of Casey from the Department of Education. The original school building, memorial gates, the school bell and several trees are included on the Casey City Council heritage overlay.
Challenge
The challenge was to make the project financially possible. The large site located close to the town centre was an attractive potential development site for several landuses including commercial and residential developments. A large financial commitment was required to gain this asset for the community.
Solutions
The project is a successful example of community and council partnership. The community’s strong associations with the land and the original building through its use as a public school brought to the fore the community’s desire to retain public access and ownership of the site. This was expressed by fund raising efforts in support of the adaptive reuse of the old school and the use of the land as a public park. In addition, Casey City Council sought and received a Victoria Heritage Grant to partially fund the restoration and adaptive reuse of the original school building.
Lessons
Increasing residential density and the loss of private open space highlights the importance of making available community open space for both passive and active recreation. Pioneer Park is a great example of what can be achieved when the community’s wishes can be supported by community action and with joint funding from the community, and state and local government.