St Mary Star of The Sea, West Melbourne - Restoration - Need For Restoration

Need For Restoration

The Depression of the 1890s had restricted the original building budget. Much of the Victorian sandstone and New Zealand limestone used was low-grade, and this severely deteriorated over the next century. The delicate blue and gold stencilling and marble rose colours of the church interior also deteriorated over time, so in the late 1950s, these extraordinary colour schemes were painted over.

Starting in the 1960s, West Melbourne became more and more commercialised and industrialised. The decrease of residents translated into a decrease of parishioners, which in turn greatly restricted funds and prohibited costly maintenance of the church's sandstone exterior and slate roof. For the same financial reasons, St Mary's did not undergo the renovations which occurred in so many Catholic churches in the wake of the Second Vatican Council. The communion rails were preserved, and the forward altar was only a temporary wooden structure.

It was not long before deterioration of the limestone exterior of St Mary's set in. It was also difficult to maintain the highly decorative interior. The complex stencilling of the sanctuary and side chapels was lost in the 1960s to a monotone covering of paint. By the nineties much of the external fabric was dangerously fragile and there were a few near accidents. It was difficult to know what to do, as the congregation had now shrunk to a small number of faithful in an area of the city that was largely made up of commercial outlets and small industry. By the turn of the century, the external fabric of St Mary's was in a very bad state. Its interior was gloomy and in a state of synthetic disrepair.