In 2020-21, the community said they wanted to see "alternative uses for the heritage kiosk at the corner of Kerford Road and Beaconsfield Parade with a strong desire for it to operate as a community-based activity hub” (Victorian State Government - Shrine to Sea project).

This 118-year-old kiosk was originally built for South Melbourne Council as one of several tearooms/kiosks established on the foreshore during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Substantial modifications have been made to it over time, most recently in the 1990s.

There have been many uses of the site over the years:

• 1905 Tea rooms (Miss Martin)

• 1910 Refreshment rooms (Miss Carroll)

• 1920 Refreshment rooms (Jones)

• 1930 Refreshment rooms (Miss Heppell)

• 1950 Confectioner (Miss Heppell)

• 1960 Confectioner (M & G Peters)

• 1965 Confectioners (N & I Koulouris)

• 1970 Milk Bar (B Atlee)

• 1974 De Marco’s restaurant

• 1991 Kerferd’s restaurant (B. Sanderson)

• 2009 Belucci’s restaurant

• 2010 Hair & beauty training salon (Inner Melbourne VET Cluster Inc)

The site is of local historical, representative and aesthetic significance to our City.

The site is not currently listed in the Port Phillip Planning Scheme as an individually significant place. Rather, it is a non-contributory graded property within the Middle Park/St Kilda West Precinct (Heritage Overlay HO444).

It is not identified on the Victorian Heritage Register, the Victorian Heritage Inventory, the National Heritage List, or by the National Trust of Australia.

No, there are no plans to sell or demolish 129 Beaconsfield Parade.

The site is owned by the Crown and is managed by the City of Port Phillip as Committee of Management.

We are proposing to offer a long term lease (of up to 21 years). This is to encourage investment in the property so it is well presented and maintained to satisfy the needs of the community.

We propose to lease the Property through an open and competitive Expression of Interest (EOI) process. This approach is consistent with the Leasing Policy for Victorian Crown Land 2023, requiring all lease allocation processes to be fair, open and impartial.

We aim to create an open and competitive process in order to maximise the commercial benefits to Council through leasing that would include rent and tenant investment in upgrades, which also preserve and enhance heritage value in accordance with the property’s Conservation Management Plan (Extent Heritage, 2022).