Application lodged to heritage-list Marvel Stadium

Does Docklands (Marvel) Stadium have heritage value? One local, who has nominated it for consideration with Heritage Victoria, certainly thinks so.

The Docklands resident, who wishes to remain anonymous, told Docklands News that they had nominated the stadium for heritage status in June in a last-ditch effort to help protect it from overdevelopment.

As reported by Docklands News, Development Victoria and the AFL recently lodged plans to redevelop the waterfront edge of Marvel Stadium comprising two towers and an 80-metre-high structure, for which some have coined “the great wall of Docklands”.

The Docklander who has put forward the stadium for heritage consideration is among those who oppose what’s being proposed and said they “couldn’t see any other way of protecting it” but to approach Heritage Victoria.

But the resident believes that, based on their research, Docklands Stadium meets all the criteria necessary to qualify for heritage status as a well-used public space that has become culturally significant to Melburnians.

“It’s got to be well-used by the public, open to the public, but there are four or five criteria that it has to meet, and it meets all of those from what I can tell,” the resident said.

They added that what was being proposed by Development Victoria (DV) and the AFL would destroy what was “the anchor point of Docklands”, which had become the postcard image for the precinct.

“I mean we’ve got plenty of high-rises around here without putting one in front of Docklands Stadium,” they said.

Heritage Victoria confirmed that it had received a nomination for Marvel Stadium to be included in the Victorian Heritage Register by a member of the public, and that it had requested further information from the applicant.

“Anyone can submit a nomination to Heritage Victoria and any nomination will be considered on its merits,” a Heritage Victoria spokesperson said.

The Docklands resident confirmed that they had since provided Heritage Victoria with the information it had requested, which included current certificate of titles for the place as well as a written statement and diagram showing the “nominated extent”.

If the nomination is accepted, Heritage Victoria will undertake an assessment and make a recommendation to the Heritage Council of Victoria on whether the place should be included or not included in the Heritage Register.

While the inclusion of a place on the Heritage Register will mean that the owner is required to apply for a permit from Heritage Victoria for any works or activities, a heritage listing does not necessarily prevent new works.

The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), for example, has been subject to renovations since its inclusion in the Victorian Heritage Register.

The Victorian Heritage Register, established under the Heritage Act 2017, includes places and objects of heritage significance to the State of Victoria. It includes around 2400 places and objects across Victoria such as Parliament House, Flinders Street Station, the Murtoa Stick Shed, and the MCG.

In 2019, Federation Square, which opened in 2002 – two years after Docklands Stadium – was included in the Victorian Heritage Register as notable example of a public square that was one of the state’s “most recognisable spaces”.

While its use as a public square differs to Marvel Stadium, the Heritage Council of Victoria in its determination said that Federation Square “continues to be an important place for the people of Victoria.”

While such a precedent gives the Docklands resident who made the nomination for Docklands Stadium hope, the Royal Historical Society of Victoria (RHSV) said it didn’t support the move.

Chair of the Royal Historical Society of Victoria’s heritage committee Professor Charles Sowerwine while it may meet some of the criteria, it does not as a whole merit heritage status.

“It may be compared to the MCG, whose very turf is part of intangible cultural heritage because of its history, but Marvel is only of interest because AFL games are played there,” Prof Sowerwine said.

“Any stadium playing so many AFL games would attract interest. Marvel is at best acceptable architecture, but it has no special architectural or technical merit, and it has nothing that particularly endears it to fans in its own right.” •