By Christine de Kock
FOOTSCRAY Police are cracking down on vandals attacking the UDC Ballroom in Yarraville.
The ballroom, on the corner of Birmingham and Goulburn streets, was once considered a grand old dame but is slowly being destroyed by vandalism.
Developer Con Stavrakis said the site came under attack after he announced at a public public meeting in August last year his intention to build apartments on the premises.
“Every window has been smashed and broken,” he said.
“Someone set fire to the place. I was contacted as the owner, but I became the owner only in May this year.”
Mr Stavrakis said he was appalled by the condition of the property – and the theft of two marble fireplaces.
He said the building had been vacant for two years without becoming a target for vandals.
Mr Stavrakis lodged a police report in December last year over the theft of the two fireplaces, valued at $10,000, damage to a piano valued at $2000, and the destruction of two antique mirrors valued individually at $3000 and $1000.
He said the building was boarded up after the initial attacks, but he installed a $1,775 fence around the property last month.
Vandals broke the fence and this week Mr Stavrakis intended to completely board-up the property at a cost of $12,000.
“I’m just frustrated through my teeth,” he said.
“I love the building, too.”
Mr Stavrakis said he understood the community also appreciated the building and was surprised people living near the property did not call the police.
“I’m not asking them to police it or patrol it, but there is no one calling the police, or if they are then the police are not responding, or if they are responding they are doing it five hours too late,” he said.
A neighbour, who did not want to be named, said before the fence went up the site was vandalised daily- during the day and night.
She said neighbours in Goulburn St regularly called the police and her husband had reprimanded a young vandal he’d spotted during the day.
“It was really bad in early winter,” she said.
“It seems to be a meeting place for kids who hang out at the bus stop down the road.”
Footscray Senior Sergeant Bill Weatherly said police were aware of the situation.
“We do know there is a problem in that area and we ran an operation last Friday (1 September) but no one was apprehended in relation to damage to the property,” he said.
“We take the matter very seriously, that’s why we ran the operation.”
He added that the site will continue to be monitored.
“A similar operation will take place in the future,” he said.
Mr Stavrakis will redevelop the ballroom site at an expected cost of $4 million and include 34 apartments, with 20 apartments available for sale.
The front half of the hall will remain untouched with the back half utilised for residential purposes.
An atrium will stretch above a communal courtyard for residents and the majority of the site will be redeveloped into a five-storey apartment complex.
Two shops, on the premises, that face Birmingham St will be converted into home offices.
There will also be a 40-bay basement car park, while the Birmingham Street frontage will remain untouched.
Development should be completed at the end of 2007.
The building was originally known as the St George’s Theatre in 1913 and the new development will be called St George’s Theatre Apartments.
Ironically the site was used as gang headquarters by the Cut Throats in the mid-1920s.
