The dome of Flinders Street Station has been cleaned for the first time in 100 years, and boy howdy, did it need it. Ten tonnes – yes, tonnes – of pigeon poo was cleaned out of the dome on top of the station. It took seven weeks to clean.
Pigeons have been roosting – and pooing – in the dome since its completion in 1910. Graeme Kaye, who has been managing the project, told Channel 7 the poo reached all the way to the ceiling.
As to the question all Melburnians want to know: now that the mess has been cleaned up, does that mean that the public will be able to access the famous Flinders Street ballroom? The jury's still out on that one, with the question still 'in discussion'. Transport Minister Jacinda Allan told the ABC: "We also have to make sure that whatever future use is made of this space that it's sympathetic to the passenger movements that come through this station."
The cleaning is part of the $100 million upgrade of Flinders Street Station, which is expected to be finished sometime next year. The works are set to improve passenger flow, create a new entrance to platform 10 and make more space on train platforms.