Melbourne will get its first real look at the new City Square next week as the Metro Tunnel prepares to open, and the Government has chosen music to set the tone. After eight years behind hoardings, the square is coming back to life with Jimmy Barnes, Kate Ceberano and Ian Moss helping mark the moment.
The three performers will take the stage at 1.30pm as part of the ALWAYS LIVE Melbourne Vibes program. Their appearance brings back the square’s long history of drawing crowds, echoing the days when AC/DC, Crowded House, Kylie Minogue and Missy Higgins played in the heart of the city.
The event is a preview of a wider push. ALWAYS LIVE Melbourne Vibes will run across the CBD during summer, dropping free performances into key laneways and precincts to draw foot traffic and support the businesses that depend on it. The program was shaped after consultation with hotel and restaurant operators who have been calling for fresh ways to bring more people into the city.
The performance comes at the end of a busy run for Victoria’s events calendar. Crowds have packed in for the Spring Racing Carnival, and international acts including Oasis, Metallica, AC/DC, Ricky Martin, Mariah Carey, Pitbull, Addison Rae, RÜFÜS DU SOL, Diljit Dosanjh and others have all passed through in recent weeks.
City Square itself looks nothing like the site Melburnians waved goodbye to in 2017. The space has been redesigned for events, retail and hospitality, with new landscaping, seating and public art. A Smoking Ceremony dish created with Wurundjeri Elder Aunty Joy Wandin Murphy OAM forms the centrepiece. Around it sit 12,000 custom-laid pavers.
At the Collins Street end, five escalators now descend into a two-tier concourse beneath the square. The station concourse will house new shops when it opens next year, forming what officials have called a square beneath a square.
The square was one of three “keyholes” used to build Town Hall Station deep under Swanston Street. It will be one of five new underground stations welcoming passengers from next Sunday as the Metro Tunnel opens to the public. It is the largest change to the state’s rail network in four decades, doubling the size of Melbourne’s underground system and clearing the way for more frequent trains.
Victorians will travel free on public transport every weekend from next Sunday until 1 February, when the new stations become part of the wider network.
Minister for Transport Infrastructure Gabrielle Williams said, “City Square has had a serious glow-up, it’s greener, more welcoming, a proud new gateway to the Metro Tunnel, and we’ve got some true Aussie legends to help us kick it off.”
Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events Steve Dimopoulos added, “Melbourne is Australia’s cultural capital, open and bustling for everyone to enjoy this summer with these free pop-up events. I encourage people to come into the CBD and join the fun.”
ALWAYS LIVE CEO Psyche Payne said, “ALWAYS LIVE Melbourne Vibes pop-up event series will attract people and positive activity to the places and spaces for which Australia’s live music capital is renown.”
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