Harold Alexander Pavilion Signage, Middle Park

The Harold Alexander Pavilion at the Middle Park Life Saving Club was demolished in 2006. The sign, made up if individual orange letters, was removed and put into storage due to the intervention of David Brand, City of Phillip Councillor. David described it in 2006 as a sign of the time, which deserved a new home. The letters have now disappeared. Recently, when interviewed by Vanished Victoria, David said I was pretty pleased I’d saved them, in the face of general indifference. I felt very disappointed when they couldn't find them again.

The Harold Alexander Pavilion

Image: Victorian Heritage Database https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/13893

It's not just the loss of the letters, it is the fact that the Pavilion was named to honour and recognise the achievements of Harold Alexander (1902-1964), Town Clerk of the City of South Melbourne from 1936 until his death. Over ten years later, in 2017, the City of Port Phillip named the  forecourt in front of the Emerald Hill Library and Heritage Centre as Harold Alexander Forecourt. A report in the Port Phillip Leader in April 2017 noted Lettering used to adorn the former pavilion in Middle Park has been in storage since its demolition and council officers are confident it can be incorporated into the new forecourt design.

It was a wasted opportunity that the linking of the original memorial to Harold Alexander to the new memorial was not undertaken, with the result the original lettering has now disappeared.

David Brand, left, and fellow councillor Peter Logan, who also fought for the retention of the sign, 

with the letters in 2006.

Image: Divercity: the official newsletter of the City of Port Phillip, April/May 2006

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Sources

• Divercity: the official newsletter of the City of Port Phillip, April/May 2006
• City of Port Phillip Council Meeting Agenda, April 5, 2017, can be accessed here. This includes a short biography of the life and achievements of Harold Alexander.
• City of Port Phillip Council Meeting Minutes April 5, 2017, can be accessed here. 
• Port Phillip Leader, April 12, 2017, can be accessed here.