MINISTER for Major Projects Theo Theophanous ceremoniously broke ground to launch the first stage of the $2.4 million Nicholson St, Footscray, redevelopment project on Monday.
The council contributed $1.175 million to the project and the Bracks Government’s Transit City Program contributed $1.2 million to the first stage.
Maribyrnong City councillor Janet Rice said in her speech: “Hopefully we’ll be able to have you out here again for the start of stage two of this project – we’re keeping our fingers crossed for the State Government coming on board for this too.”
Cr Rice was referring to the Government’s lack of a funding commitment to the next stage of the project, after which the redevelopment will be completed.
Stage one will begin at Byron St and conclude at the mall’s planter, and is due to be completed by the end of this year.
The full redevelopment of the mall, which runs between Paisley and Byron streets, is believed to cost $4 million.
Mayor Michael Clarke said over the decades the mall had become synonymous with Footscray.
“And has reflected the changing faces of the Footscray community,” he said.
“In the 1950s, immigrants from Europe and the Mediterranean stamped their mark on Footscray’s retail offerings and reputation.
“In the 1980s, waves of people from Vietnam and China moved in and established new lives and communities. Today walking through Central Footscray is an experience of shops and restaurants of all cultures, and people from all walks of life,” Cr Clarke said.
