Michelle Slater
HERITAGE Victoria is looking to place the former Moe Magistrate’s Court on the state’s Heritage Building Register.
Heritage Victoria made the recommendation in September to include the Lloyd Street building on the Victorian Heritage Register, with public submissions open until November 15.
According to Heritage Victoria documents, the Moe Court House is of state-level cultural heritage significance and “a fine example of a late twentieth-century court house”.
The 1977 Brutalist-style building was designed by Public Works project architect, Alan Yorke, who also designed the Jika Jika unit at Pentridge prison.
The brick and off-form concrete building features “monumental scale and fortress-like character”, with a jagged roofline, industrial-style glazing, and “bold sculptural expression of curving elements”.
It contains the original 1970s fit-out, including judges’ benches and witness boxes, and a 1980s-design Telecom Gold Phone with a brown plastic privacy hood.
The interior includes three court rooms, judges’ rooms, a large public waiting room and a typing pool.
Documents state that the building is one of the largest courthouses built in regional Victoria in the second half of last century.
The building caught the eye of critics of the day, with a four-page article in the journal of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects in 1979.
It was also shortlisted for a Victorian Institute of Architects award in 1980.
The now unoccupied Moe Courthouse is owned by Court Services Victoria and ceased operating in 2014.
Latrobe City Council had previously approached the state government to see if the building could be opened-up for community use, such as creating an arts hub or exhibition space.
A Latrobe City spokesperson said council had made a submission to Heritage Victoria supporting the recommendation.
“Council considers the court house to be a valued and well-maintained heritage building, with its value to the local community demonstrated in its inclusion in the Latrobe Planning Scheme Heritage Overlay Schedule as a place of local significance,” the spokesperson said.
