Exhibition Street, Melbourne
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Exhibition Street is a major street in the
Melbourne central business district The Melbourne central business district (colloquially known as "the City" or "the CBD", and gazetted simply as Melbourne) is the city centre of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. As of the 2021 census, the CBD had a population of 54,941, and is ...
,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
. The street is named after the International Exhibition held at the
Royal Exhibition Building The Royal Exhibition Building is a World Heritage Site, UNESCO World Heritage-listed building in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, built in 1879–1880 as part of the international exhibition movement, which presented over 50 exhibitions between ...
in 1880, and was previously known as Stephen Street from 1837. The street runs roughly north–south and was laid out as part of the original
Hoddle Grid The Hoddle Grid is the contemporary name given to the approximately grid of streets that form the Melbourne central business district, Australia. Bounded by Flinders Street, Spring Street, La Trobe Street, and Spencer Street, it lies at a ...
.


Geography

Situated in the east of the
Melbourne central business district The Melbourne central business district (colloquially known as "the City" or "the CBD", and gazetted simply as Melbourne) is the city centre of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. As of the 2021 census, the CBD had a population of 54,941, and is ...
, Exhibition Street is a major thoroughfare for city traffic. At its southern end, Exhibition Street becomes
Batman Avenue CityLink is a network of tollways in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, linking the Tullamarine, West Gate and Monash Freeways and incorporating Bolte Bridge, Burnley Tunnel and other works. In 1996, Transurban was awarded the contract to aug ...
after its intersection with Flinders Street and the Batman Avenue Bridge. Batman Avenue links the central business district to the
Monash Freeway The Monash Freeway is a major urban freeway in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, linking Melbourne's CBD to its south-eastern suburbs and beyond to the Gippsland region. It carries up to 180,000 vehicles per day and is one of Australi ...
, and the section immediately south of Flinders Street is also known as the Exhibition Street Extension. At its northern end it becomes Rathdowne Street, which runs along the western edge of the
Carlton Gardens The Carlton Gardens is a World Heritage Site, UNESCO World Heritage Site located on the northeastern edge of the Melbourne central business district, Central Business District in the suburb of Carlton, Victoria, Carlton, Melbourne, in the stat ...
,
Royal Exhibition Building The Royal Exhibition Building is a World Heritage Site, UNESCO World Heritage-listed building in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, built in 1879–1880 as part of the international exhibition movement, which presented over 50 exhibitions between ...
and
Melbourne Museum The Melbourne Museum is a natural and cultural history museum located in the Carlton Gardens in Melbourne, Australia. Located adjacent to the Royal Exhibition Building, the museum was opened in 2000 as a project of the Government of Victoria, ...
.


History


Founding as Stephen Street

Stephen Street, as Exhibition Street was originally known, was established in April 1837 as one of the eight north–south streets on
Robert Hoddle Robert Hoddle (21 April 1794 – 24 October 1881) was a surveyor and artist. He was the first Surveyor-General of Victoria from 1851 to 1853. He was previously the Surveyor-in-Charge of the Port Phillip District from 1837 to 1851. He became ...
's original survey of
Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
. Stephen Street was named as a tribute to James Stephen, the Permanent
Undersecretary Undersecretary (or under secretary) is a title for a person who works for and has a lower rank than a secretary (person in charge). It is used in the executive branch of government, with different meanings in different political systems, and is a ...
for the
British Colonies A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony governed by England, and then Great Britain or the United Kingdom within the English and later British Empire. There was usually a governor to represent the Crown, appointed by the British monarch on ...
in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
who was at the peak of his power within the Colonial Office at the time of the naming of the streets in the Hoddle Grid. In 1847, the Eastern Market was opened on the corner of Stephen Street and
Bourke Street Bourke Street is one of the main streets in the Melbourne central business district and a core feature of the Hoddle Grid. It was traditionally the entertainment hub of inner-city Melbourne, and is now also a popular tourist destination and tr ...
. It was the second major market in Melbourne, after the
Western Market :''Western Market is also a former name for Plaza Miserere.'' Western Market is one of the oldest structures in Sheung Wan, Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. The current structure, built in 1906, was the North Block of the original Western Market ...
. It was intended to be Melbourne's main fresh food market, but it proved less popular than the
Queen Victoria Market The Queen Victoria Market (also known colloquially as the Vic Market or Queen Vic) is a major landmark and public marketplace in the central business district (CBD) of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Covering over , it is the largest open air ...
, and eventually became more like an
amusement park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, and events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central theme, often fea ...
. It was demolished in 1960.


Renaming to Exhibition Street

Stephen Street was renamed Exhibition Street by
Melbourne City Council The City of Melbourne is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, located in the central city area of Melbourne. In 2021, the city has an area of and had a population of 149,615. The city's motto is "''vires acquirit eundo''" which ...
on 5 December 1898. It was renamed to celebrate the 1880 International Exhibition and the 1888 Centennial Exhibition, both held at the
Royal Exhibition Building The Royal Exhibition Building is a World Heritage Site, UNESCO World Heritage-listed building in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, built in 1879–1880 as part of the international exhibition movement, which presented over 50 exhibitions between ...
during the boom time of Marvellous Melbourne. The change only applied to the portion of Stephen Street north of Collins Street. The remainder was called Collins Place, and kept that name until it became part of Exhibition Street in 1963.


Exhibition Street Extension

The Exhibition Street Extension project, later renamed Batman Avenue, was announced by the
State Government A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonom ...
in 1997 and opened in October 1999, with
CityLink CityLink is a network of tollways in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, linking the Tullamarine Freeway, Tullamarine, West Gate Freeway, West Gate and Monash Freeways and incorporating Bolte Bridge, Burnley Tunnel and other ...
operator
Transurban Transurban is an Australian, multinational road operations company and one of the world's largest toll road operators. Transurban, either independently or through financial consortiums, manage and develops urban toll road networks across Austr ...
operating the road and collecting tolls from road users. The project included a four lane divided road over the Jolimont railyards, enabling the original alignment of Batman Avenue west of Melbourne Park to be closed. In addition the route 70 tram was removed from
Swan Street Swan Street (and its western section as Olympic Boulevard) is a major street running through the Melbourne suburbs of Richmond, Cremorne and Burnley. The street was named after the White Swan Hotel, built in 1852 on the corner of Swan and Ch ...
, and rerouted to dedicated tracks between the sporting precinct and the railway lines, before crossing the new bridge and turning into Flinders Street. The Exhibition Street Extension was not part of the initial CityLink project announcement, as it had been promoted as a bypass that would keep cars out of the CBD.


Notable buildings

Exhibition Street is a commercial district lined by skyscrapers and home to many of Melbourne's tallest buildings. It is also home to many heritage buildings 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. ...
and/or classified by
National Trust of Australia The National Trust of Australia, officially the Australian Council of National Trusts (ACNT), is the Australian national peak body for community-based, non-government non-profit organisations committed to promoting and conserving Australia's Ind ...
. These include:


Listed buildings

* Cooper's Inn Pub (1853) * Former London Chartered Bank (1859) * Former Mickveh Yisrael Synagogue and School (1877) *
Her Majesty's Theatre His Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre situated in the Haymarket, London, Haymarket in the City of Westminster, London. The building, designed by Charles J. Phipps, was constructed in 1897 for the actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who ...
(1886) * Friendly Societies House (1891) * P Ng Hong Nam Building (1910) *
Herald & Weekly Times ''The Herald and Weekly Times'' Pty Ltd (HWT) is a newspaper publishing company based in Melbourne, Australia. It is owned and operated by News Pty Ltd, which as News Ltd, purchased the HWT in 1987. Newspapers The HWT's newspaper interests dat ...
Building (1921) *
Comedy Theatre The Harold Pinter Theatre, known as the Comedy Theatre until 2011,
(1928)


Skyscrapers

*
Reserve Bank of Australia The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is Australia's central bank and banknote issuing authority. It has had this role since 14 January 1960, when the ''Reserve Bank Act 1959'' removed the central banking functions from the Commonwealth Bank. Th ...
building (1973) * Collins Place (1981) * SX1 (Southern Cross Tower) (2004) * Australia Post Headquarters (2009) *
Telstra Corporate Centre Telstra Corporate Centre is an office skyscraper in Melbourne, Australia. Standing 218 m high with 47 floors (43 used as offices), it is the equal 21st tallest in Melbourne as of 2024.
(1992) * Ernst & Young Tower (2005) *
Marriott Hotel Marriott Hotels & Resorts is Marriott International's brand of full-service hotels and resorts based in Bethesda, Maryland. As of June 30, 2020, there were 582 hotels and resorts with 205,053 rooms operating under the brand, in addition to 160 h ...
* Rydges Hotel * Mantra 100 Exhibition (formerly the Pacific International)


See also


References

* {{Melbourne CBD Streets Streets in Melbourne City Centre