In early 2014, the 15 storey building including the four level Cultural Centre of the Greek Orthodox Community of Melbourne and Victoria (GOCMV) will be open to all of the community – it will be a centre unrivalled in the global Greek diaspora. It will become the institution where we celebrate our Greek story. Bill Papastergiadis, president, GOCMV, says it is time for a change.
“From my perspective the community needed a game changer,” Mr Papastergiadis tells Neos Kosmos. “It required a plan to inspire the interest of young Greek Australians. Time was also of the essence. Broad-based contribution by talented and motivated second and third generation Greek Australians in Melbourne was urgently needed so as to develop a community which offered appropriate services and also inspired cultural productivity.”
A place of education, music, entertainment, song and dance, the centre will be seen as a hothouse of thoughts and ideas. It will offer the next generation a chance to create their new stories and cultural experience but at all times remembering and celebrating our migrant past. “The Centre should be seen as a hothouse of thoughts,” explains Jorge Menidis.
“It aims to offer spaces for the generation of new stories and the celebration of old. The Centre will collaborate and lead. It will present opinions and ideas. It will educate and entertain.”
The centre will have a collection of spaces some of which included a performance space; an exhibition space; an education space; hothouse and meeting space; and administrative space.
With support from the Melbourne City Council via an incredibly speedy permit approval process and the State Government’s $2 million contribution, and support by all the members of the Greek community, the dream of the four storey Cultural Centre has become a reality. A lot of thought was put into the actual design of the new building.
“Aesthetically, a new building would also act as a beacon for those who would take the baton going forward for our community,” explains Mr Papastergiadis. “Symbols play an important role in our lives. Symbolically, the new building would herald a fresh start.
The design of any such building would need to ensure that there would be a reference point to the past and with it incorporating a vision for the future.”
* This Thursday, Neos Kosmos will publish a supplement in Greek and English paying homage to the new Cultural Centre, but also remembering the past. We will look at the early days of not only the Greek Community of Melbourne and Victoria’s building, but the history of the community as a whole. For all those who have ever wondered if walls could talk – the walls of the Greek community building will speak to us about stories, events and past happenings that have shaped our community in Victoria, and Australia. We will give you a birds eye view of the architecture and symbolism of the new building, but also look at the demolition of what has been a large part of our cultural history. All in all, we – alongside the Greek community – look to the future, to create a place to inspire the next generation of proud Greek Australians.
