Flinders St Station, one of my favourite buildings in Melbourne (despite the bland modern station concourse), is turning 100. There is an exhibition on in the Degraves St subway to commemorate this. Apparently it will only be there until the 22nd of January (thanks to White Hat for reminding me).

From the Flinders St Station 100 website.

An exhibition celebrating the station’s history, decade by decade, will be available to the public in the Degraves Street Subway from Monday 4 January to Saturday 23 January 2010. This event is supported by Platform Artists. The exhibition, entitled The Station Turns 100, will be launched on Friday 8 January, 6 – 8 pm. No rsvp is required and everyone is welcome!

There is some brief introductory history on the website. There is also a book, by Jenny Davies: Beyond the Façade: Flinders Street

The website also features a call to lobby for refurbishment of the station and returning it to the public domain.

The exhibition is supported by Platform Artists Group Inc.

Update: Some positive noises at least from the new transport minister – At 100, grand old station in line for arts refit

Victoria’s new Public Transport Minister, Martin Pakula, said the Government was considering a proposal from the Centre for Adult Education ”for an arts and cultural hub with exhibition, classroom and studio space” for the building.

”We understand there’s a big community push to use Flinders Street and the department will further investigate the CAE proposal, and we will continue to work with the City of Melbourne, transport operators, arts, transport and other groups … to test this proposal and see if the station building can be returned to the community.”

It has been estimated refurbishing the station would cost more than $10 million. It has had many uses over its 100 years including holding concerts and acting as a sports venue.