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3AW Broadcasting Studio, 374-384 La Trobe Street, Melbourne

Butler, Graeme1985

Record details

Title:

Creator:

Butler, Graeme (Name details)

Date of work:

1985

Reference number:

BIF-CITY 105477

Level of description:

Item from Collection: Heritage Collection (HC)

Type of materials:

Graphic materialsTextual material

Part of:

Series: Central City (BIF-CITY)

Access restrictions:

UnrestrictedOpen access.

Use restrictions:

UnrestrictedPlease contact City of Melbourne Libraries about obtaining permission to reproduce images.

General notes:

RESEARCH ADDED BY GRAEME BUTLER 2021:__________________________________________________Periods: Inter-War, Post-warNotable features:1. Courtyard2. Early purpose-built radio stationBuilt: c1935, 1956.Image: https://flic.kr/p/2mPHKzu.GRAEME BUTLER 1985 MELBOURNE CENTRAL ACTIVITIES DISTRICT CONSERVATION STUDYBUILDING IDENTIFICATION FORM.MAHLSTEDT FIRE INSURANCE PLAN SERIES1923-8 2 storey masonry irregular plan part Wolf Avery stores, Age motor garage1948 3 AW Broadcasting Studio, 3 and 2 storey masonry, reinforced concrete columns, beams and all floors, central light court.City of Melbourne Maps 2021Building Details:`Twenty two storey concrete office building with four levels of parking from the mezzanine up and ground level retail. Designed by Peddle Thorp Architects and built in 2003. It incorporates a three level carpark that was built in the early 1960's.'.NEWSPAPERS (TROVE)The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957) Tue 24 Jul 1956 Page 12 3AW — "STATION OF THE STARS" — AN ARGUS SOUVENIRhttps://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/71647750 illust.3AW men will 'tell the world'TOMORROW the chairman of the Broadcasting Control Board, Mr. R. G. Osborne, will officially open the new studios and offices of leading Melbourne commercial radio station 3AW. The opening will be one of the most colorful and lavish in Australian radio history. A T.A.À. Viscount has been specially chartered to fly, 44 guests from Sydney and fly them back again on Thursday. COST IS CLOSE TO £150,000 The. station wants to make the opening a memorable one because directors, executive and staff firmly believe the new set-up is something to "tell the world" about. It is their proud boast that the new studios will bring to Melbourne radio the latest overseas ideas in station design. Nearly £150,000 has been spent on 3AW's new transmitter and plant, its site at Heidelberg and the rebuilding of the Latrobe st. offices and studios.More than £25,000 went into rebuilding alone.A station official said: "The 3AW project is the biggest forward step in commercial broadcasting in Victoria for many years." The new studios and offices have been built on the old site in Latrobe st. but space has been tripled since the building was vacated by tenants. Besides the big number of Sydney guests, representatives of Melbourne's business, advertising, and radio world will also attend the ceremony. The official ceremony at 6.30 p.m. will be followed by a celebration dinner at the Savoy-Plaza. And 3AW really has "something to celebrate. It has not only grown spectacularly in listener popularity over the last few years, it now has grown physically to a size where it can house its many Important departments In comfort. Expansion The company owned the freehold of the Latrobe st. property, but two-thirds of it was occupied by two other businesses. When the two tenants vacated the building last Christmas, 3AW at last was able to complete its plans for expansion. Work on remodelling the whole building began in February. It was not easy. The normal work of a busy radio station had to go on although the place was invaded by an army of painters, carpenters, plumbers, and bricklayers. It was not just a case of sprucing up with a few gallons of paint. The inside of the building was ripped apart and put together in a modern, practical way designed for efficiency and first-class working conditions. Now the studios and offices are colorful, modernistic, and stream lined. The color scheme throughout ls In pastel .shades, selected to harmonise with the new de sign. The huge increase in space has allowed the station at last to stretch itself.STATION'S HISTORY IS A STORY OF COURAGEThe 3AW Broad casting Co. Pty. Ltd. was founded on faith - faith in Australia. It was born in 1932, a year of national privation and despondency. But big people had faith. For instance, Mr. W. A. Watt, Federal Treasurer at that time, said these prophetic words at the company's inauguration: "The inauguration of a company such as 3AW might be accepted by the people of the Commonwealth as a dawning hope or, perhaps, even a confident indication that business conditions are likely to Improve in the early future."MR. WATT - NOT THE PESSIMISTS - WAS RIGHT.A company spokesman says of the early days, "The group of businessmen who launched the company were knowledgeable men who realised that to survive the company had to be organised along resolute, efficient lines."And 3AW policy has changed little since 1932. Always, it has put emphasis on high standard variety programmes and listening features with topical appeal. Although the depression clouded all thought at the time of the opening, hundreds of messages of appreciation and congratulation poured in. The Lord Mayor, Souvenir written by MICHAEL COURTNEY Pictures by JOHN BAGNALL Councillor (now Sir Harold Gengoult) Smith, performed the ceremony at 8 p.m., on February 22. Appropriately the first musical programme broad cast by the station was performed by the 3AW quartet. The first 3AW news service was broadcast at 10.10 p.m., on February 23, 1932.Progress The progress of 3AW can be easily gauged by com paring that lone session with today's presentation of seven news services a day with several additional broadcasts being made to relay stations both in Victoria and interstate. And from its inception 3AW tried to use the best local talent available. Hundreds of young hopefuls who today are leaders in the 'radio and entertainment world got their first taste of the real thing on 3AW, Still well-known in the local radio world are men like song-writer, JACK O'HAGEN, announcer TERRY DEAR, and Caltex Theatre producer, E. MASON WOOD - all made , their debuts on 3AW. One of the present AW staff who remembers well the early days of the company is Mr. Hector Hanls, company secretary. He has been with the company since the beginning and has a fund of stories of how the early hazards and difficulties of radio were met and overcome. There was the harrowing time in 1935 when a raging storm hit Melbourne, and the mast over the station took such a battering that the guy wires began to slip. John Ryan - now chief engineer - climbed the mast carrying a hammer and nails while the storm was at its worst and nailed the wires firmly in place. Hector Harris and .Gordon Tait - the third original staff member still at 3AW - were some of the men who watched Ryan's spectacular climb.Harris, Ryan, and Tait were ' staff members when 3AW's studios were at Her Majesty's Theatre. Those premises are now occupied by the foyer sweet shop. About the Easter of 1933, the station moved to where the garage of the Comedy Theatre is now. In 1935, it moved to its present Latrobe st. site and, thanks to the just completed re building programme, it seems that the station will stay put for many years to come. …3AW's library houses more than 40,000 recordings. RIGHT: 3 AW s new mast reaches high into the sky at Heidelberg, giving listeners better reception 7 hours a day! .... rooms have been shifted back into the space vacated by the tenants. The old studio space has been remodelled for offices. All of the technical equipment is completely new - and of the latest tested designs. The equipment is a personal success for the 3AW technical staff. All of it was de signed and built by staff members, who worked unceasingly for months to perfect the machinery in time for the opening date. Everybody connected with 3AW is bubbling over with enthusiasm for what lies ahead. They have good reason for confidence. In March the installation of the new transmitter raised power from 600 watts to an Impressive 5,000 watts. As the manager of 3AW, Mr; Myles Wright, said: "We do not want to make any extravagant claims. But, naturally, we are proud of the fact that 3AW ls the only station in Melbourne owning completely its own office and studio building. "And personally I am tremendously proud of the magnificent team of highly-trained radio men who gave my directors the confidence to undertake this investment." Radio is a fairly accurate guide to the life of a people. Your set - no matter how humble - links the outback with the metropolis; it entertains and educates; reports, predicts, and warns. To continue to reflect the life of the nation lt must progress with that nation. Station 3AW has realised that fact..DIRECTORIES OF VICTORIA, MELBOURNE-SANDS AND KENNY, SANDS & MCDOUGALL1930374-376 Wolff, Amery Pty Ltd, motor tyre experts378-380 Age Motor Garage382 Prosser Road Sweeping Machine Pty Ltd, road-1935374-384 Three A.W. Vogue Broadcasting Co Pty Ltd

Names:

City of Melbourne

Topics:

Central Activities District Conservation Study 1985Conservation studiesInterwar periodRadio stations

Places:

Melbourne (Vic.)

Form/Genre:

Building Identification Forms (BIFs)

Record types:

Research and reports

Record number:

1248694