Princes Hill Community Centre

Princes Hill Community Centre, an incorporated non-profit organization that offers a range of programs at a reasonable cost to the community, is an incorporated not-for profit. Princes Hill Community Centre was established in 1975 as the Princes Hill School Park Centre. It has been a beacon for community participation and well-being since then. It maintains strong relationships with Princes Hill Secondary College and has established a close relationship with the City of Yarra in recent years. They are members at the associate level of the Association of Neighbourhood Houses and Learning Centres. Full memberships to the North East Neighbourhood House Network and Carlton Local Agencies Network are also available. The Centre is managed by an elected Committee of Management. Its day-to-day operation is handled by staff.

Princes Hill Community Centre promotes community cohesion and participation by providing opportunities for the community to have recreational, cultural, and educational activities. Princes Hill Community Centre also works to improve the community’s accessibility to information, services, and facilities. It provides support and assistance to individuals and groups that are socially or physically disabled and links with other bodies and organisations to foster an integrated network of community services. They strive to make sure that community members are satisfied with the services and programs they offer. They promote and support sustainable environmental practices through the Centre’s management and programs, as well as the support of community events and networks.

A two-story red brick building with two stories is located at the corner of two narrow streets in Princes Hill. It’s known locally as One C One and today it houses the Princes Hill Community Centre.

According to the Yarra Heritage database, unlike many other houses around it, the building is Edwardian and not Victorian. The Australian Architectural Index records a notice for intent filed 18 December 1905 by Susan Summerfield. It is a notice of intent. A title search confirms that Susan Young Summerfield owned the land in 1905, and it was then sold to Thomas Stokes 1910 by the responsible Minister of Education in 11.

Post-war immigrants’ demand for education outpaced existing classroom space. The Arnold Street site was officially elevated to High School status by 1959. However, the school did not have the facilities and buildings needed to accommodate the growing number of students it would attract over the next decade.

The 1960sPrinces Hill High School saw students dispersed at a variety of locations near the main Arnold Street buildings. These included the former sloyd building and the cookery building. According to the school’s timetable, the 1-C-1 directed students to Building C, 1st Floor, Room 1.

The building was used as a boot factory in the early 20th century. It was then purchased by the Department of Education, who wanted to acquire buildings to serve the growing school-age population. The building was used to teach cookery and sloyd in an era prior to Princes Hill acquiring a secondary school. The upstairs taught boys woodworking and metalworking, while the downstairs taught girls home economics. This included budgeting and household management.

A new school was built on the site after the old 2 story Princes Hill High School in Arnold Street was destroyed in 1970. The former sloyd/cookery building was demolished to make way for the modern, well-equipped high school.

1973 The present site, also known as One C One, was in bad condition and had been declared a safety risk by the Metropolitan Fire Brigade. It was used as a storage area for desks, cupboards, and throwaway lockers.

1973Martin Brennan, George Querol and George Querol were drama and media teachers at High School. They sought funding support from the Schools Commission’s Disadvantaged Schools Programme to renovate the building for students as a film, video, and drama centre. The studio’s ceiling is lit by a lighting and scaffolding system. It also had many power points. Also, a radio recording studio was established that linked to the community radio station 3CR. Today, the entrance to the Community Centre still has the “Radio Studio” sign.

The end of 1975 saw a public meeting in the theatre at Princes Hill High School. A committee was established to create the Princes Hill School Park Centre, a cooperative arrangement between Princes Hill Primary School, Princes Hill High School, and Melbourne City Council. The Centre was officially launched after the adoption of the Constitution, which was drafted by the above-mentioned parties, and a public meeting with residents.

Schools were granted the ability to make agreements with other groups regarding the use of their facilities through the Education Act. The schools made valuable resources available to the community. The Arnold Street location was initially home to the PHSPC office. Its initial focus was on adult education and recreation. Many classes were offered by the Council of Adult Education CAE and TAFE. The school was also open every night of week. The PHHS also offered a Saturday language school.

The Melbourne City Council provided an activities officer and budget to support programs. The Education Department Community Education Officer coordinated the School Park Centre. The School Park Centre was established in response to emerging community education policies that sought to establish clear connections between schools and communities. School facilities and valuable school resources were not being used during school hours. The School Park Centre also sought to create and implement educational and recreation programs for the North Carlton community.

This arrangement was possible thanks to the Education Act, 1958 as amended by the Education (School Council’s Act 1975 and the Youth Sport and Recreation Act 2002. These Acts gave schools the ability to make agreements with groups regarding the use of school facilities. The Acts made the Committee of Management of the School Park Centre a sub-committee of the Princes Hill Secondary College’s councils and the Princes Hill Primary School’s councils.

Phillip Rogers, a local resident, and Martin Brennan approached Princes Hill School Park Centre in 1976 to create an acoustic music space upstairs. The venue was dubbed “One C One”, after the school’s former timetable, 1-C-1. The venue became a favourite spot for acoustic musicians across Melbourne and Australia. Every Sunday, performances were held at ‘One C One. The concerts were recorded and rebroadcast on 3MBS. Early evening, queues formed to get a spot on the carpet squares. This allowed people to watch and listen to musicians in concert-style setting. Wholemeal cakes were provided by Fitzroy Bakers. Instant coffee was also available, although it wasn’t as good as the music. The day’s music stars were Paul Kelly, John Crowle and Judy Small. Danny Spooner, Judy Small, Judy Small, Judy Small, Danny Spooner and Julia Wong were among them. There was also bluegrass and blues bands from the local area.

In 1975, the Princes Hill Primary School Council, Princes Hill High School Council and Melbourne City Council established the Princes Hill School Park Centre. Named School Park Centre, it reflected the inclusion Princes Park in the Centre’s activities. Its initial focus was on adult education and recreation.

The Princes Hill School Theatre hosted a well attended public meeting where local residents adopted the Constitution. A School Park Centre Committee was elected along with nominees from both the schools and the City Council.

Emile Hamer was appointed Director. This position was funded by the Department of Education to coordinate School Park Centre activities. The City of Melbourne provided the Centre with a Recreation Officer, and a budget to support after-school and holiday programs.

The School Park Centre was established to reflect the growing community use of school facilities. It also reflects education policies that sought to establish clear links between schools and communities.

The School Park Centre was specifically established to provide school resources and facilities that were not being used by the community. It also managed the excellent facilities at Princes Hill High School. The School Park Centre also created and implemented educational and recreational programs to benefit the Princes Hill Community and North Carlton. The Centre was built upon the principles and ideals of the post-war Community Centre movement, whether by design or accident. It was a groundbreaking project that was a great success for those who were involved. The centre was located in Arnold Street, at the Princes Hill High School administrative office.

1979Martin Brennan was an initial High School teacher representative on School Park Centre Committee. In early 1980, the School Park Centre Committee established a new path for the Centre that captured the spirit of the time. The aim was to transform the Centre from a dominant centre of education controlled by the Council of Adult Education into a centre that included community outreach, participation and lifelong learning.

Over the next few years, the Centre supported and promoted a variety of programs and activities, including:

• City Alternative News* was distributed throughout Carlton. It was a newspaper made by the people, for the people.
• The North Carlton Railway Station was purchased for community use by local residents. It was established as a neighbourhood home through a partnership between the Montemurro Bocce Club, and support from the City of Melbourne**.
• The Housing Commission provided and supported Solly Avenue Community Flat for Estate residents.
• ‘Curtains For Carlton’ was an Artist in Schools initiative. It consisted of a tapestry made from squares by community agencies and organisations. The tapestry was hung in the PHHS cafeteria.
• The Community Caf is a PHHS cafeteria that provides breakfast and lunch for students, as well as after-school dining for families.
• In-put into the Case for Carlton’, a submission from the community for the planning and delivery of childcare services in the community by the City of Melbourne
• Expanding the after-school and school holiday programs
• The One C One Youth Resource Centre was established for school leavers.
• Princes Hill Not Another Film Society

In 1983 Martin and his family traded their position, home and lifestyle for one year with Fred Stearns, a Michigan Community Education Officer.

1985 The School Park Centre was thriving and Melbourne City Council recognized its success by increasing funding. They began the process to formally establish a Community Centre.

After the School Park Centre outgrew its space at the Secondary College, the Melbourne City Council provided $10,000 for the first renovations to the One-C-One building. However, the School Park Centre connection with the school was not lost. The Ministry of Education still owns the One-C-One Building (the School Park Centre premises).

After it was given community centre status by Melbourne City Council the council funded a permanent and an assistant centre manager positions. Melbourne City Council also allocated a budget for Goods and Grant to support programs, administration, and cleaning, as well as sessional labor. Melbourne City Council and both schools began to work together on a deal to secure the School Park Centre’s tenure.

Trevor Huggard, an activist from Melbourne and former Mayor of Melbourne, recalls that the Centre was involved in the welfare of the school-aged community. They organized holiday activities and other opportunities and took part in community discussions revolving on the use of heritage spaces and buildings by the community. Artist and teacher Dianne Colk, as well as Marion Turnbull, a long-time resident, recall the Centre’s support for artist in residency programs. The most lasting was perhaps the establishment of the Centre’s famed life drawing classes. Word spread quickly and many people who once attended gigs or, like Terry Miller, had played at the One-C-One Acoustic Music Venue, found themselves re-uniting as life drawers, artists, and models.

Reports from the 1990s reveal a wide range of programs. The bus was purchased through community fundraising and used extensively to take older adults shopping, as well as teenagers and adults on outings. According to the 89/90 reports, the bus was used more than 80% of the time and covered over 22,298 kms.

1990 The “Curbin the urban” project was a highly successful community art project. Judy Horacek was a cartoonist who worked with adults, primary and second-grade school groups and other community groups to create a series that addressed the concerns of the community about the environment. The cartoons were displayed at the PHSPC and Melbourne Town Hall, City of Melbourne Libraries and Department of Conservation and Environment.

The Carlton Forest Project, a successful local history project, was published in 1993. This set of six booklets covers the history of the area and has become highly sought-after.

1994 was a difficult year. The new City of Yarra placed a lot of stress on staff because of the increased funding and support requirements. It was a challenging time in the late 90’s and early 2000. The funding of the City of Yarra was steadily cut to nil.

The Princes Hill Community Centre has been a long-standing partner of the Life Models Society. The society’s first meeting was held in October 89. The LMS runs workshops to train models, four Life Drawing Salons throughout the year, weekly life Drawing sessions, and special events like the Extravaganza. Life Drawing has been made easy by the upstairs studio, which boasts a lot of natural light and quiet settings.

1991 was marked with renovations upstairs. To make the space more rentable, the walls that separated the kitchen from the studio with its cupboards were constructed.

However, the good times did not last. The Centre was unable to receive much of its funding after 1993’s council amalgamations and the Kennett years. However, Centre archives suggest that it had been struggling with financial issues before that date. Ironically, the Princes Hill School Park Centre was renamed the Princes Hill Community Centre. This was due to the fact that it lost recurrent funding from the local council and became more dependent on support from Princes Hill Secondary College. It was dependent on volunteers for a time, and the Centre, which had been catering to a large number of school-aged children, lost the funding to offer social programs. The Centre became more dependent on profit- and cost-based programs. Despite this, work was continued and a grant from City of Yarra allowed the Centre to complete one-off projects, such as the renovation of its upstairs studio. Its Life Drawing classes continued their success and attracted a loyal following. The Centre also ran innovative community arts events, like pARTicipate.

1996 The end of 21 years’ worth of running a wide range of school holiday programs. This role was taken over by the City of Yarra.

The 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s programs were broken down into After School Activities for children, Holiday activities, Adult programs, and Programs for older adults. There are many programs available over the years. There are many programs available: Microwave cooking, French polishing, French skills, French painting, French polishing, Yoga and Felting, Karate. It is constantly changing to reflect community involvement and staff time, funding availability, and staff time. There were rumblings for change in 1996. In many cases, it was necessary to use a ‘user pays” business model in order to run programs. This resulted in a decrease in the number of programs available.

2002 was launched without funding from Yarra. With the legislative changes, Public Liability Insurance became a problem. It was therefore no longer possible for children’s classes to be run. All space-hirers at the centre were now required to carry public liability insurance. All services were to be provided on an ‘user pays basis’.

2003 Funding was submitted successfully. It received $20,000, which allowed for upgrades to the Centre, maintenance, repairs, regrouting brickwork, sanding, resealing the studio floor, painting and a new computer, fax, and the first email link (yes, the first internet connection). March 2002 saw the Railway Neighbourhood House become unsafe to live in due to a falling power pole. The PHCC office was occupied by NCRSNH staff for a few months.

Cool Cats Cabaret applied for a grant, and rehearsed “The Wizard of Oz because Because..” at La Mama

2003 School support was vital. Even with the increasing enrollment at the school, rebuilding programs at PHSC of Food Technology wing and the gym were forecasted meant that there was a greater demand for the Centre’s spaces. A feasibility study into community program delivery in Princes Hill North Carlton was supported by a further grant from Yarra. Although Life Drawing remained a core activity, limited funding prevented the development of other activities.

2004 Building, Princes Hill Secondary College. A three-story wing dedicated to food technology, textiles, and technology. It also includes an upgrade of the science wings. Classes were scheduled for 1C1 as well as 1C2. Funding was a problem. A Community Partnership Grant from the City of Yarra was applied for.

2005 A Yarra application was approved for 3 years funding.

2006 A new full-sized gym was built at PHSC during August. Due to the lack of indoor sports venues in the inner-city area, many sporting organizations quickly filled the need for after-hours rental. A small grant allowed for a Community Art Show as well as a cabaret theatre. “pARTicipate”, which featured both 2D and 3D art, was a huge success.

2007 With more secure funding and income from an agreement with the school about PHCC hiring the gym staff, it was possible increase staffing and expand the programs offered. Students from PHSC VCE created the first website and electronic banking. 2008 local book published. The art exhibition “pARTicipate” ran again.

Princes Hill Community Centre was now on a stronger financial footing. With this greater security, the Centre looked to become more involved in community life. It runs a variety of low-cost and free programs with funding from the City of Yarra. The Centre also has a Community Partnership Grant. The Centre’s legacy of arts programs, which have been running in many forms for more than thirty years, is a defining feature. People are most familiar with the Centre through their support of various classes, programs and initiatives. Princes Hill Secondary College was the Centre’s main sponsor. The Centre had an agreement to manage the School’s gym hire. In return, the Centre received a portion of the profits. The City of Yarra is the next largest sponsor, providing a Community Partnership Grant to the Centre that allows it to participate in community development. The Centre receives the remainder of its funding through the rental of the Centre’s studio and classroom space or popular programs like the Life Drawing Classes. These classes have been held here for more than two decades.

Princes Hill Community Centre is still something of an “exceptional normal”, to borrow from microstoria terminology. Although it began life much like many other neighbourhood houses, the Centre has never been able to transition from being a community centre to being a state-funded institution. This has allowed the Centre greater flexibility in its programming and the ability to apply to grants through the City of Yarra, which would have been impossible otherwise. Although the Centre’s artistic legacy is significant, it has not made this its sole purpose. It still caters to the many everyday needs for conversation and intimacy that shared interests groups such as craft, mahjong, or games can provide. These are primarily of benefit the local community, which provides a sense cohesion, friendship, and is vital in the making of a great life and more generally promoting and supporting the arts.

In December 2018, the Princes Hill Secondary College assumed the management of Gym Hire. This removed The Princes Hill Centre’s funding stream. The Centre has been operating on a very limited budget since then. However, its remit is still broad and, with luck and maybe a little flair, it will be able to adapt to the vagaries and changes in Government funding, the Covid 19 pandemic, community needs and wants, and the Covid 19 pandemic.

* The City Alternative News was published for more than 20 years. 1975-95? It was circulated throughout Carlton, and was a newspaper made by the people. It was laid out at night without any computers or spell-checking, and sent to Shepparton for printing. The paper was then distributed to the surrounding area.

**In 1980, PHSPC played a key role in securing North Carlton Railway Station as a community house. This was possible through a partnership between the Montemurro Bocce Club (and the support of the City of Melbourne). In exchange for a place to store their bocce equipment, members of the Bocce Club helped renovate the building that was in poor condition.

If you are looking to visit Princes Hill Community Centre, you can visit Northern Tow Trucks as well because we are located in the same area. Check below maps to find directions.

We want to make sure that your experience with Northern Tow Trucks Melbourne is a positive one

Contact Us

Northern Tow Trucks

620 Canning St

Carlton North VIC 3054

(03) 7064 2500

www.northerntowtrucks.com.au