ACCA forecourt park takes shape

Construction has begun on a new green space outside the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, marking a long-awaited step in the City of Melbourne’s push to deliver more open space in Southbank.

Lord Mayor Nick Reece, Cr Davydd Griffiths, Albert Park MP Nina Taylor, ACCA CEO Myles Cook, Transurban’s Victorian general manager Anup Jois and Chunky Move executive director Suzanne Daley attended the Sturt and Grant streets site on Monday, June 29, to officially mark the start of works.

The project will transform more than 900 square metres of paved forecourt outside ACCA into landscaped public open space, including new planting, lawn and seating.

Funded through the Victorian Government’s Better Parks and Playgrounds Program and Community Support Fund, the project is expected to be completed by October 2026.

Cr Reece said the new park would bring together two of Melbourne’s defining strengths: arts and public space.

“Southbank is growing rapidly and so is our garden city,” Cr Reece said.

You’ll soon be able to touch grass outside ACCA – as we get on with delivering 900sqm of new green space right near one of Melbourne’s leading cultural institutions.

“Melbourne is known for its vibrant arts scene and great public spaces, and this project brings the two together, transforming the ACCA forecourt into a greener, cooler and more welcoming place in the heart of Southbank.”

The ACCA forecourt greening project forms part of a broader pipeline of open space and greening works across Southbank, one of the city’s fastest-growing and most densely populated suburbs.

The City of Melbourne says the project will maintain the forecourt’s important role within the surrounding arts precinct while creating a more inviting and usable place for residents, visitors and workers.

Once complete, the space will support biodiversity, community wellbeing and the vibrancy of the Melbourne Arts Precinct.

Environment portfolio lead Cr Davydd Griffiths said the project would deliver practical benefits for the neighbourhood.

“Projects like this bring real benefits, from cooler streets and more biodiversity to better places to meet and spend time outdoors,” Cr Griffiths said.

“It’s great to see more of Southbank becoming greener and inviting.”

The project was first announced in 2023, after the state government committed funding to convert what was then described by locals as an underused and dusty forecourt into a new community space.

Southbank community groups strongly welcomed the funding at the time, pointing to the suburb’s long-running shortage of green space and the need for more inviting public places around the Arts Precinct.

The ACCA forecourt project will complement other Southbank greening initiatives, including Dodds Street Linear Park, Boyd Park, continuing upgrades to Southbank Boulevard, and planned projects such as the City Road Undercroft Park, Miles and Dodds Street Reserve expansion and Normanby Road Reserve expansion. •