A heritage listed Morwell building is at risk of being demolished as part of the merger of three primary schools.
Commercial Road Primary School is home to a Latrobe City Council heritage listed 1906 brick building.
A letter from State Education Minister James Merlino to Member for Morwell Russell Northe last month revealed demolition plans at the three soon-to-be vacant schools involved, leaving the future of the 110 year-old school building in doubt.
“The students will finish their school year at the end of 2016 and having vacated the Tobruk Street, Commercial Road and Morwell (Crinigan Road) primary schools, these building on each of the sites will be demolished and cleared of building debris,” the letter read.
The Express sought clarification from Mr Merlino if this included the school’s heritage listed building, but a government spokesperson did not answer the question.
In a statement to The Express, a government spokesperson said the Department of Education was currently undertaking an assessment of the Commercial Road Primary School site to “determine if it will be needed for future local education needs”, with a decision expected by the end of the year.
“State heritage-listed buildings cannot be demolished without the necessary approvals,” the spokesperson said.
“If a local organisation is interested in leasing or buying a government school site they should contact the Victorian School Building Authority.”
Founded in 1879, Commercial Road Primary School was the town’s first established primary school.
The prospect of losing a piece of Morwell’s history has community groups up in arms.
Morwell Historical Society president Bruce McMaster said if the demolition went ahead it would be a poor decision by the government.
“I think there will be a big problem (within the community) with that,” Mr McMaster said.
“There are very little historical buildings left in Morwell… I think it would be a loss of the town if it is demolished.”
(within the community) with that,” Mr McMaster said.
“There are very little historical buildings left in Morwell… I think it would be a loss of the town if it is demolished.”
Advance Morwell president John Guy believes the building should be protected and registered with the National Heritage Trust.
“We’re too fond of destroying our heritage, I think,” Mr Guy said.
He said Advance Morwell had expressed concern about what would happen to the three sites at its buildings “ever since the project was announced”.
“We stressed way back that they should be planning on future uses for those sites so they don’t become like the old tech school site when that was closed,” Mr Guy said.
He said a proposal by the group to use the Commercial Road location as the home of the recently announced Morwell Technical School was rejected by the minister, despite no other disclosed plans for the plot.
“There appears to be no real evidence of plans at the moment,” Mr Guy said.
“I think it’s probably about time the people responsible for the site planning came down and talked to community about what will happen.”
