Last night, Port Phillip councillors voted to consider a revised plan for transforming the carpark next to the Palais Theatre – dubbed the "St Kilda Triangle" – into a refreshed cultural precinct, adding a brand new music venue right next door to the famous theatre.
Long the subject of debate, the Triangle has been the centre of various contentious plans, including a proposed $400 million lifestyle precinct dubbed "Chadstone by the Sea". The 2016 St Kilda Triangle masterplan also proposed a green space replacing the current carpark, sinking the carpark and adding an underground 'cultural space', as well as tacking a hotel and additional performance space on the back end of the current Palais building.
It was also considered as a potential location for the NGV Contemporary, now set to be located in Southbank's Arts Precinct.
The Age reports this morning that Port Phillip councillors voted in favour of a basic feasibility study into the idea last night, noting that they've spent millions of dollars investigating the potential for the public space, but have only "achieved a carpark so far".
Councillors voted in favour of the $378,000 study, to be delivered mid-next year, looking into the feasibility of developing a live music or performance venue for the space. The decision had multiple locals questioning the need for a second music venue located literally next door to the current one, with one local pointing to the 2016 masterplan as a preferable option.