Wednesday 30 March 2016

An older social club artefact Wednesday - Middle Park redevelopment

My, isn't it good to finally have this issue resolved!*

Of course this saga (in its Lakeside format at least) started all the way back in 2005 with a George Donikian thought bubble; became 'official' in 2008; got the 'yes' vote from members in 2009 or thereabouts; saw South of the Border gain the briefest bout of infamy imaginable March 2014, and the had these wonderful moments in 2014 - hedging our bets with with separate photo ops with the then Liberal Party candidate for Albert Park (plus the top brass), and and reigning and still your Labor Party MP for Albert Park, Martin Foley kicking a ball.

Or of course you could just trawl through all the articles on here that have the label 'Lakeside redevelopment' attached. Far more detailed, messy and just plain fun than what the club has been able to produce over the years; then again, I'm not quite beholden to the same standards of truth, accuracy and a fair go that they are.

All of which seems as good as time as any to post this little artefact of sorts. Earlier this year, while searching through early 1990s copies of Neos Kosmos in the State Library's newspaper archives - I was looking for a poem my dad wrote about Heidelberg, which ended up getting him a double pass to a game; I haven't found the poem yet - I came across this article in the English language 'New Generation' supplement of 11th January 1993 edition of Neos Kosmos. 

New Generation was edited at the time by George Bisas, and one time South Melbourne club historian Petros Kosmopoulos. You can see for yourself that the club had lofty ambitions for its Middle Park redevelopment. Improved facilities for members which would also be accessible to parts of the local community, and the status of being an enduring legacy for the Greek community; ideals which have also been taken off the shelf and dusted off for 2016.

Of course the arrival of grand prix to Albert Park saw improvements come to our facilities in a similar but different way. One always wonders though, had this project gotten through rather than the eventual Lakeside move, whether things would have turned out better.

*Assuming ti is actually resolved. You know, building permits, grant money coming through, all necessary legislation getting throigh parliament, etc

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