Melbourne council plans $62.6m libraries revamp
One of Melbourne’s older suburban libraries, part of a brown-brick civic and community hub, is set for a major revamp – while another will be razed and replaced.
The upgrade of Fawkner Library at 77 Jukes Road will be majority funded by Merri-Bek Council.
The main outlay is expected to be spread in the 2027-28/2028-29 financial years.
Also today we are reporting the first purpose-built library in the municipality, in Glenroy, sold after being repurposed as a medical centre.
That vendor, Adelaide-based Briars Group, bought the Brutalist-inspired and partly heritage-protected former library building, designed by architect Harry Winbush, from Merri-bek Council in August 2024.
Fawkner Library redevelopment
Fawkner Library opened in 1968, part of a community hub precinct beside the C.B. Smith Reserve, with the Fawkner Leisure Centre, senior citizens centre, neighbourhood house and maternal and child health centre.
Part of Merri-bek’s library network, which recorded more than 1.2 million loans of books and electronic resources in 2023-24, it has already undergone several upgrades.
Energy-efficiency works carried out between 2011 and 2013 included new lighting, ceiling insulation and replacement of the original gas-fired heating and cooling plant.
The building also underwent refurbishment works following a council tender in 2016.
The broader C.B. Smith Reserve precinct, with a competition-level soccer pitch, skate park, play spaces and fitness equipment, was revamped in 2024.
The area also contains over 50 car parks.
Council had already committed $1.9m to the library redevelopment – the project has been part of its development pipeline several years. About $700,000 will be via the state government’s Living Libraries Infrastructure Program.
New Coburg Library
Merri-bek is also planning a new Coburg Library as part of a $60m project with a piazza (continues below).
A winning design for the proposed four-storey library by Durbach Block Jaggers with Architecture Associates and Openwork was unveiled in March, following a design competition.
Set to occupy the the north-west corner of Victoria Street and Waterfield Street West, it includes digital learning spaces, as well as facilities for creative and cultural programs.
The piazza, which will span two-thirds of the parcel, is designed with seating, lawn and trees.
Construction is scheduled to start in 2028.
Completion is expected in 2029.
Supermarket-turned-library on the way out
The library and piazza form the first stage of a broader plan to revitalise central Coburg, retaining components of redundant The Coburg Initiative, which grew out of Council’s 2006 Central Coburg 2020 Structure Plan.
Later stages will add c1000 dwellings, offices, retail and six parks.
Road and laneway improvements are planned too.
Some 900 car parks across three addresses are also planned.
The outgoing Coburg Library, which opened in 1983 in a former supermarket, is no longer deemed fit for purpose – smaller than the proposed replacement.
The wider revitalisation is expected to take 10-15 years.
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