The New Building for the Melbourne Athen…

Scarce, c.19th hand coloured engraved  view of the Melbourne Atheneum at 188 Collins Street, adjacent to the Melbourne Town Hall.

The building was completed in 1842. The Melbourne City Council met in the building until 1852 when the Melbourne Town Hall was built. The Institution changed its name to the Melbourne Athenaeum in 1872.  At that time, as now, a focal point was the library. In 1877 membership was 1,681 and in 1879 there were 30,000 visits to the library. In 1880 it was reported ‘that the floor of the large hall was the only one in Melbourne expressly constructed for dancing‘. The front of the building was rebuilt in 1885 and 1886.