Melbourne is said to become the only city outside Greece with a permanent Benaki Museum – the largest and oldest private museum in Greece founded by Greek diasporan Antonis Benakis in memory of his father Emmanouil Banakis with 10 buildings in Athens.

The new museum in Melbourne would reside inside a new 29-storey tower to be built over Melbourne’s iconic Land Titles office, located at 283 Queen Street, according to a report by the Herald Sun.

The $244 million plan would revamp the former Land Titles Office, including a 164m high commercial building in the heart of Melbourne’s historic legal precinct. These plans have already been submitted to the state government with developers having teamed up with The Hellenic Museum.

Benaki Museum CEO Haris Siampanis participated in a Dialogue series, organised by Mr Paul Nicolaou, the Director of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Business Leaders Council and Mr Christos Karras, the Greek Consul General in Sydney. There was no announcement made on Wednesday regarding the creation of the new structure during his meeting with Diasporans. On the contrary Mr Siampanis outlined the financial challenges faced by the museum, especially during the pandemic “which almost ripped out all our income in the last month,” he said, while pointing to initiatives which the museum had implemented in the past to ensure its viability, including a donor program, annual galas and partnerships.

READ MORE: Greek Australian Dialogue series begins with online conference hosted by Benaki Museum

Haris Siampanis, Benaki CEO, spoke to Greek Australian stakeholders on Wednesday but did not reveal plans for the creation of a new museum in Melbourne.

Gathering of Greek Australian stakeholders at the Dialogue series

“We tried to become more creative,” he said on Wednesday, pointing to the Benaki’s digital expansion while also revealing plans for exhibits to come to Australia during celebrations in 2021. He also stated an educational program to be created for 1821.

George Magkinis, the Benaki’s Academic Director said: “We have had exhibitions and events presenting Australian creativity. We have worked with the Hellenic Museum in Melbourne as well in presenting that to the Greek public before. But I feel like there is room for more systematic work on this. We definitely plan to do more on that. We started already 15 years ago when we had an exhibition of an Australian artists at the Benaki, so we go back a long way on this. And also we tried with the Hellenic Museum to organise a music event this summer, but the pandemic unfortunately cancelled that. So yes there is definitely a wish for this.”

On Friday, however, a blueprint showing a towering building behind the heritage-listed site came to light.

The Greek museum, to be constructed developer ISPT,  would include a public atrium, rooftop terrace with breathtaking CBD views, a 1000sq metre ‘touring hall’ for international displays and a new entrance. The old Land Titles building, known for its architectural and historic significance, and the construction plans have yet to win the support of Heritage Victoria.

Should the plan become reality, the building would not only offer an amazing opportunity for Greece’s culture to be showcased but also allow Australians to enter a heritage-listed site which has not been open to the public.

More to follow.