The Argus Building on the corner of La Trobe and Elizabeth streets in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...

, Australia, is notable as the former premises of '' The Argus'' newspaper for 30 years (1926–1956). It is classified by the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

and is listed on the

Victorian Heritage Register The Victorian Heritage Register (VHR) lists places deemed to be of cultural heritage significance to the State of Victoria, Australia. It has statutory weight under the Heritage Act 2017. The Minister for Planning is the responsible Minister. ...

. In 2012 it was assessed as one of Australia's top ten endangered heritage buildings. it is the Melbourne campus of the Melbourne Institute of Technology.

History

An 1855 map shows St John's church and school at this location. Documents from 1880 and 1905 show an enlarged church and a row of two-storey shops along Elizabeth Street. The site was acquired by the publishers of ''The Argus'' and ''

The Australasian The ''Australasian Post'', commonly called the ''Aussie Post'', was Australia's longest-running weekly picture magazine. History and profile Its origins are traceable to Saturday, 3 January 1857, when the first issue of ''Bell's Life in Victoria ...

'' for the development of a six-storey purpose-built building to accommodate the numerous workers and massive composing and printing plant deployed in producing high-circulation

letterpress Letterpress printing is a technique of relief printing. Using a printing press, the process allows many copies to be produced by repeated direct impression of an inked, raised surface against sheets or a continuous roll of paper. A worker com ...

newspapers, as expounded in a special supplement, "Entering the New Home", published on 9 September 1926. After twenty years of financial losses, the last issue of ''The Argus'' emerged from the building on Saturday 19 January 1957. After the paper's closure, It was announced that the company's other activities would continue, including ''The Australasian Post'', ''

Your Garden Pacific Magazines was a magazine publisher operating in Australia owned by Seven West Media. In March 2020, it was acquired by Bauer Media Australia in April 2020. In June 2020, Mercury Capital acquired Pacific Magazines as part of its purcha ...

'' and other operations in radio and commercial printing. In 2004

La Trobe University La Trobe University is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its main campus is located in the suburb of Bundoora. The university was established in 1964, becoming the third university in the state of Victoria a ...

bought the Argus Building for $8 million with the intention to redevelop the building to house its legal and business schools as well as a ground-floor shopping precinct. Owing to the high estimated cost of renovating the building, La Trobe University sold the site for $15 million in 2010 to

Shesh Ghale Dr Shesh Ghale is an Australian businessman of Nepalese origin, billionaire and the former president of Non Resident Nepali Association (NRNA). Based in Melbourne, Victoria, Ghale is the CEO of Melbourne Institute of Technology (MIT), which h ...

, owner of the Melbourne Institute of Technology, who converted the site into its Melbourne campus which re-opened in October 2016.

References

{{coord, -37.8101, 144.9610, type:landmark_region:AU-VIC, display=title Office buildings in Melbourne Commercial buildings completed in 1926 Heritage-listed buildings in Melbourne Elizabeth Street, Melbourne Buildings and structures in Melbourne City Centre 1926 establishments in Australia