Museums Victoria has announced that Melbourne’s Royal Exhibition Building Dome Promenade experience will open to the public on Saturday 29 October 2022.
As the first Australian building to be awarded a UNESCO World Heritage Listing, the Royal Exhibition Building has great historical and cultural importance, not only to Melbourne, but to all of Australia.
The highly anticipated new attraction was developed as part of a Federal Government budget commitment, restoring integral aspects of the fabric of the building to protect and preserve its world and national heritage values.
With its origins steeped in the Marvellous Melbourne era, the Royal Exhibition Building was built for the 1880 Melbourne International Exhibition, embodying civic values and providing a majestic place where people, culture and ideas could come together.
The Dome Promenade was a key attraction of both the 1880 and 1888 international exhibitions and operated as a commercial venture, providing visitors the opportunity to view the Melbourne skyline in much the same way as will be offered from next month.
With the Protection & Promotion Project now complete, Museums Victoria CEO & Director Lynley Crosswell says she is looking forward to the Promenade deck being open so the community will have the opportunity to enjoy the building’s remarkable Promenade view, along with an exhibition that explores the building’s history and uses over the years.
“I am delighted that we can at last welcome visitors to Melbourne’s newest ‘oldest attraction’, the Royal Exhibition Building’s Dome Promenade, and share the building’s stories from the near and distant past,” said Ms Crosswell.
“We are especially pleased to be opening during springtime, offering visitors a spectacular view of Carlton Gardens in full bloom and an outlook over Melbourne not experienced for nearly 100 years.”
The Royal Exhibition Dome Promenade opens on Saturday 29 October 2022. Tours leave from Melbourne Museum. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit: www.museumsvictoria.com.au for details.
Image: Royal Exhibition Building Dome – photo by Eugene Hyland