The citizens of Melbourne have always been proud of their art and architecture, their theaters, their shops, their parks and gardens, and their sports, especially that unique brand of mayhem known as Australian Rules Football.
What they have been ashamed of is their river.
”The Yarra is the only river in the world that runs upside down,”
Australians say. That is, with all the mud and silt on the surface. And no matter how diligently they cleaned it up, its dominant color seemed to remain a basic brown.
For more than a century, Melburnians tried to ignore the Yarra. Along its banks they placed the railroad yards and various industrial installations. This way they blocked its view from the Golden Mile, the rich, central portion of the city constructed with funds garnered from the gold rush of the mid 1850s.
A couple of decades ago, however, Melbourne began to build skyscrapers, and from these heights the Yarra began to be rediscovered. Depending on the weather, it sometimes seemed that a graceful curve of silver was coursing through the city. At other times, it was tinged pink or orange with the reflection of sunrise or sunset. Those who made their way to the water`s edge during the summer discovered that it was considerably cooler there. Gradually, they thought it was time to say that brown is beautiful.
”I think that`s just the color it is,” said Susan R. Calwell, executive director of the Melbourne Tourism Authority, who sees it daily from her office on Flinders Street. Gradually Melburnians realized it would be nice if people could take long walks along the river – maybe even ride on it.
Today, that`s beginning to happen. Urban renewal has begun along the Yarra, and there are small fleets of boats available to the general public. Some offer floating barbecue dinners for small groups. Others are water taxis providing transportation from the railroad station to public venues like the modernistic Tennis Centre. It was built for the Australian Open a few years ago but is now used more for rock concerts and other kinds of entertainment.
When the large Sheraton opens on the river, perhaps in time for the Melbourne International Arts Festival in September, guests will be able to shuttle quickly over the water between the hotel and conventions held at the new Congress Centre on the opposite bank. A new river esplanade is also under construction, and when it is finished, walkers, joggers, and bicycle riders will be able to travel between some of Melbourne`s famous park lands and other destinations in the city untroubled by vehicular traffic.
Other major hotels in central Melbourne include the Hyatt on Collins, the Regent of Melbourne, both high rises as modern as tomorrow, the Hotel Windsor, a refurbished century-old establishment, and Menzies at the Rialto, an unusual structure made by joining two neo-Gothic 19th-century office buildings into a single operation and glassing over the alley between them.
The redevelopment along the river is only one of Melbourne`s projects for the `90s, carried forward despite some recent blows to the city`s spirit. Hit hard by the recession, Melbourne had pinned its hopes on being chosen as the site for the 1996 Olympics. It would have been just what was needed to boost its economic recovery. Grandiose plans were made, and Prime Minister Bob Hawke and much of the country cried openly when the decision was made to hold the games in Atlanta.
”Now we`ve decided to maintain some of that Olympic momentum,” said Calwell. ”The Museum of Victoria is moving down to that end of town, near the Congress Centre, and several small business hotels have opened there. Also you can see we`ve built a new pedestrian bridge over the river.
”But once that whole complex opens, you`ll have the Victorian Arts Centre, the Concert Hall, the National Art Gallery – almost our entire cultural area there, and right next to it a major, five-star hotel. There`s also a whole new retailing area opening up near the river,” she added.
The country`s two major cities, Melbourne, the capital of the southern State of Victoria, and Sydney, the capital of New South Wales, have been in constant competition as long as anyone can remember. With its natural setting on a beautiful harbor, and some daring civic projects, glamorous Sydney always seems to enjoy the world`s spotlight while Melbourne receives second billing. ”If you`re not living in Sydney, you`re just camping out,” goes one of the more recent taunts from the flamboyant metropolis to the north.
Most airlines from the U.S. begin in Los Angeles, stop at Sydney first, and then a few go on to Melbourne. (Continental Airlines, however, has just launched a new flight from San Francisco which then becomes the only non-stop available from Honolulu to Melbourne.)
Melbourne considers itself the country`s leader in the fields of art, entertainment, and fashion, and many objective Sydney-siders agree. Melbourne also seems to be more concerned with preserving its past, authentically restoring some of the most intricate and beautiful structures of the mid- to late 1800s.
An example of many Melburnian talents combined is the Princess Theater, first built in 1886 to celebrate Queen Victoria`s jubilee. Now faithfully restored, the Princess seems the perfect stage for its current production, the Andrew Lloyd Webber version of the ”Phantom of the Opera.”
Since the action occurs during the period the building represents, it is hard to tell where the theater itself ends and the staging begins. Special effects are spectacular, and reviewers have raved over a production which makes the theater part of the show. It opened in December, 1990 and was to have ended this June. Now it has now been extended indefinitely, and bookings are currently being taken for May, 1992.
Sydney residents are among those who continue to jet in for an evening with the Phantom. They happily fork over the plane fare for the privilege of scaring themselves silly when the theater`s own chandelier seems to come crashing down upon them, only avoiding their heads at the last second to land on the stage instead.
The Princess Theater can also claim its very own phantom, of sorts. The ghost of an actor who died there during an 1888 performance of Faust is said to appear in the audience from time to time. If he hasn`t been seen lately, it may be just because there hasn`t been an empty seat available.
