The Old Treasury Building on Spring Street in

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 ...

was built in 1858-62 in the grand Renaissance Revival style. It was designed to accommodate the Treasury Department, various government officials' offices including the Governor In Council, and basement vaults intended to house gold from the

Victorian gold rush The Victorian gold rush was a period in the history of Victoria, Australia, approximately between 1851 and the late 1860s. It led to a period of extreme prosperity for the Australian colony and an influx of population growth and financial capi ...

. It now houses a range of functions, including a

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

of Melbourne history, known as Old Treasury Building Museum.

History

The Treasury Building was constructed between 1858–62, and is considered one of Australia's finest

Renaissance Revival Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th-century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range of ...

buildings. One original purpose was to house some of the

bullion Bullion is non-ferrous metal that has been refined to a high standard of elemental purity. The term is ordinarily applied to bulk metal used in the production of coins and especially to precious metals such as gold and silver. It comes from ...

from the gold rush in the 'gold vaults' in the basement, but by the time it was finished the rush was over, and they were used to store government documents instead. The main purpose was to house offices for the Treasury Department, along with rooms for the Chief Secretary, the Treasurer, the Registrar-General, the Registrar of the Supreme Court, and the Auditor General, as well as one for the

Governor of Victoria The governor of Victoria is the representative of Monarchy of Australia, the monarch, currently King Charles III, in the Australian state of Victoria (state), Victoria. The governor is appointed by the monarch on the advice of the premier of V ...

when he was on government business. The building was designed by young architect J. J. Clark who was just 19 years of age in 1857. Construction of the basement and ground floor began in 1858, when he took seven months leave to tour Europe and the United Kingdom. On his return he completed the design, possibly changing that of the second floor, and removing the fourth level attic of the central section in favour of a continuous eave. (Many of J J Clark's drawings are currently on display throughout the building). Architectural historian Miles Lewis once described The Old Treasury as the "finest public building exterior in Australia". Clark had already designed a few government buildings, including the Printing Office located behind the Treasury building, and later went on to design many government buildings both in Victoria and elsewhere, notably the Old Mint in Melbourne, considered to be another fine example in a classical style, and the grand Brisbane Treasury in

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

. While the building itself was finally completed in 1862, there was long delay in completing the forecourt, with individual timber staircases leading to the three main front doors for some time. In 1868 these were replaced with the grand forecourt and cast iron lamps still standing today, also designed by Clark. It is the cornerstone of the Treasury Reserve government precinct adjacent to the Treasury Gardens and creates an important

vista Vista may refer to: Software *Windows Vista, the line of Microsoft Windows client operating systems released in 2006 and 2007 * VistA, (Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture) a medical records system of the United States ...

terminating Collins Street, the financial spine of the city. When the official treasury offices were moved next door to 2 Treasury Place in 1877-78, the building was nicknamed the 'Old Treasury'. As a leading public building in Melbourne, located in a prominent position with open space around it, the Old Treasury has been the focus for many celebrations and major public events. The arrivals and departures of the Governors of Victoria were occasions for expressions of loyalty to the Crown and sometimes for political statements. In recent years it has been the destination for the

Grand Final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Synonymous with a championship game in North Ameri ...

parade of AFL footballers. The building is also notable for its role when Melbourne was the temporary capital city of Australia after Federation, with the National Executive Council meeting there. Previously in February 1899, a "secret" Premiers' conference was convened, when it was decided Melbourne's Parliament House would be the temporary capital until the location of the Australian National Capital was officially decided.

Establishment of a museum

During the 1970s, the Dick Hamer Government was developing policy for museums in Victoria. In 1981, Hamer's Arts Minister, the Hon.

Norman Lacy Norman Henry Lacy (born 25 October 1941) is an Australian former politician, who was a Minister in the Hamer and Thompson Cabinets of the Victorian Government from May 1979 to April 1982. He grew up in Richmond, Victoria and was educated at N ...

, established a Museums Development Committee to develop a comprehensive museums policy for Victori

He then also proposed to the Executive Committee of Victoria's 150th Anniversary Celebrations in 1984 that a new Museum of Social and Political History be established at the Old Treasury Building.

Finally in 1994 after restoration of the building, the Old Treasury Building Museum was opened with exhibitions detailing the

history of Melbourne History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...

, the

, and the history of the building. Operations of the buildings and the museum are vested in an Old Treasury Building Reserve Committee of Management, and is a registered charity. The Museum has changed name a number of times, becoming the Gold Treasury Museum, the City Museum at Old Treasury and then the Old Treasury Building Museum again. Since 2011 it has presented programs in partnership with

Public Record Office Victoria Public Record Office Victoria (PROV) is the government archives of the Australian State of Victoria. PROV was created by the Victorian Public Records Act 1973 with responsibility for the better preservation management and utilisation of the publ ...

(PROV).

In the media

The Old Treasury Building has been used as a filming location. It features in the climactic sequence of the film '' Knowing'' (2009), a film set in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, Massachusetts.

and Boston are officially recognised as being

sister cities A sister city or a twin town relationship is International relations, a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there ar ...

Occupants

The Old Treasury was built to house the Treasury Department and store gold, but also provided offices for the leaders of the young colony, including the Governor, the Premier (at the time called Chief Secretary), the Treasurer, the Registrar-General, the Registrar of the Supreme Court and the Auditor General. Since its construction in 1862, it has also held the office of

His Excellency Excellency is an honorific style (manner of address), style given to certain high-level officers of a sovereign state, officials of an international organization, or members of an aristocracy. Once entitled to the title "Excellency", the holder ...

the

, who still holds weekly meetings of the Executive Council, consisting of the Governor and at least two

Ministers of the Crown Minister of the Crown is a formal constitutional term used in Commonwealth realms to describe a minister of the reigning sovereign or viceroy. The term indicates that the minister serves at His Majesty's pleasure, and advises the sovereign o ...

, that is, the leaders of the governing party. The ''Governor in Council'' as this meeting is called, is the formal enacting of

legislation Legislation is the process or result of enrolling, enacting, or promulgating laws by a legislature, parliament, or analogous governing body. Before an item of legislation becomes law it may be known as a bill, and may be broadly referred ...

when the Governor's signature and the Great Seal of Victoria is put in place on the bill. Various other appointments and other regulations are also formally made at this weekly meeting, upon the advice of the

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

and

Parliament of Victoria The Parliament of Victoria is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Victoria (state), Victoria that follows a Westminster System, Westminster-derived parliamentary system. It consists of the Monarchy in Australia, King, represent ...

. In addition to the museum, the Old Treasury Building is now home to th
Office of the Victorian Government ArchitectThe Victorian Marriage Registry
and offices for most living former Premiers of Victoria.

References

* The Treasury Reserve. Frances O'Neil. Department of Infrastructure. 2000.

External links