Wirth’s Circus

For 70 years, Wirth’s Circus stood where the Arts Centre is now, and was one of Melbourne’s top attractions. It was destroyed by fire in 1953.

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, circus’s were big business in Australia.

At a time when long distance travel was difficult and expensive, they gave a glimpse of the wider world, as well as providing live entertainment for the whole family. Overseas troupes began touring Australia from the mid 19th century, they were drawn to Melbourne in the 1850s by the start of the gold rush.

In 1887, a large American circus company, Cooper and Bailey’s, pitched their tent next to St Kilda Road just to the south of the city.

To maximise publicity for their show, the circus organised a procession through the city centre to the site. This caused a great deal of excitement, and subsequently became a tradition for other visiting circus troupes.

Cooper and Bailey’s were a hit: huge crowds turned out to watch them perform. They proved so popular that the company would return each year through to 1900, on each occasion using the same site on St Kilda Road.

Australian circus companies formed in the later 19th century, to compete with the big troupes from overseas.

One of Australia’s largest homegrown circuses was The FitzGerald Brothers. Formed around 1890, the company had made a splash in Melbourne with their first big shows in 1892, their acts including Japanese Sumo wrestlers, aerial artists, a tiny pony called ‘Commodore’, and a lion that rode on the back of an elephant.

The shows were so popular, the FitzGerald’s also returned to perform each year.

Their location, a large empty block on Swanston Street, was eventually acquired for commercial development. With a shortage of suitable sites near the city, The FitzGerald’s began lobbying to take over the spot used by Cooper and Bailey’s.

They were eventually successful, and began performing next to St Kilda Road in 1901. They liked the location so much, the FitzGerald’s  constructed a permanent wooden theatre on the site, a ‘hard top’ they dubbed ‘Olympia’.

They would lease this to other visiting circuses and live acts.

Sharing the location was another, smaller, amusement park called ‘Princes Court’, which opened around the same time. This featured a toboggan ride, as well as restaurants, bars, and a Japanese tea house.

This stretch along St Kilda Road became known as a live entertainment district.

Another successful local circus was run by the Wirth Brothers.

The Wirth’s had been a Melbourne institution since the 1880s, often timing their appearances to coincide with the Melbourne Cup. They toured frequently, around Australia and abroad, and in style; travelling in their own special trains, sourcing their acts from around the world, billing themselves as ‘The Greatest Show on Earth’.

They appeared several times at the Olympia, when they visited Melbourne.

In 1907, the Wirth’s decided to settle there permanently. They bought out both the FitzGerald’s and Princes Court, and combined both properties into one large scale venue.

Re-named ‘Wirth’s Park’, the new owners would do things on an even grander scale than their predecessors.

The ‘Olympia’ would be rebuilt, larger and more elaborately. When movies arrived in Melbourne, and caught on as a wildly popular new craze (you can read about this here), the theatre was converted into a cinema.

New buildings were added, including a hippodrome for live events, an ice skating rink, and a large dance hall called ‘The Green Mill’. To the toboggan ride and waterslide from the previous park, they added a kart track, pavilions with permanent exhibits, restaurants, and bars.

The new park had a capacity for 30 000 visitors.

Wirth’s Park proved very popular. Its entry gate, topped with a triangular flag, became an iconic Melbourne landmark, often featuring in souvenirs of the city.

During the First World War, some of the buildings in the now sprawling complex were used for nursing veterans, and the dance hall was popular with returned serviceman.

The park remained popular through to the Great Depression, when adverse economic conditions impacted it severely.

A number of the attractions would close during the 1930s. The dance hall, now called the ‘Trocadero’, remained popular, otherwise the venue was less patronised.

The grand age of the circus was coming to an end.

During World War II, the site was again used by the armed services, and some dances were still held at ‘The Troc’. But after the war, the site’s decline continued.

Then, disaster struck.

Early on the morning of December 27, 1953, Desmond Doyle was driving across Princes Bridge when he noticed something amiss; flames were coming from the roof of the Olympia.

He raised the alarm and raced to the circus gates, where he joined the efforts to try and rescue the animals there. Other employees, many of them living on site, hurried out in their pyjamas.

Bruce Johnson, 19, was sleeping in the main pavilion when the fire started. “I woke and found my bed clothes on fire,’ he said. ‘I ran to the pony stalls to help release them. Most of them were tethered, and we had to untie them and drive them into the streets. Then I ran to the other cages.” 

– ‘The Age’, December 28, 1953

In the end, all the animals were rescued except four monkeys, and a prize-winning Great Dane, pet of the Wirth family.

The fire caused 70 000 pounds of damage. The cause was never determined.

Rather than rebuild, the Wirth’s decided to relinquish their long-standing lease on the land. The high running costs were a main factor; keeping such a large site going, as its popularity declined, was becoming increasingly difficult.

Wirth’s Park never re-opened. After some debate about future use, and the possible relocation of the circus, the land was purchased by the Victorian State Government.

They had been eying the site since the 1940s.

In 1955, Victorian Premier Henry Bolte announced that the old Wirth Brother’s site would be home to a new Victorian Arts Centre.

Local architect Roy Grounds was appointed to head the project. As a youth, Grounds had been a performer, and had appeared on stage at the Olympia.

Grounds’ first proposal was for both the theatre and concert hall to be contained in one structure, and to be built underground, with an ornamental spire to mark the location. These plans would be revised several times, as new additions to the arts precinct were added.

Eventually, it was decided to split the design into two separate buildings: a concert hall, on the riverbank, and a performing arts centre, the Theatres Building, a short distance further along St Kilda Road.

As part of the redevelopment, ‘Snowden Gardens’, a popular wedge-shaped park on the riverfront established in 1903, was also swallowed up. The demolished Wirth’s site would be used as a carpark, short term.

The complicated nature of the planning lead to extensive delays.

During this period, Grounds was also commissioned to design the National Gallery Victoria, a showcase art gallery that would sit adjacent to the Arts Centre. This was completed in December 1967, and opened the following year (you can read about the first exhibition held at the NGV, here).

The architect left quite a mark on this part of the city.

Construction on the Arts Centre project finally commenced in 1973, nearly twenty years after it was proposed, and took ten years to complete.

The new Melbourne Concert Hall opened in 1982, and the Theatres Building in 1984. The Arts Centre Spire, measuring 162 metres, itself became an iconic Melbourne landmark.

The concert hall was renamed ‘Hamer Hall’ in 2004, after former Victorian Premier Dick Hamer (in office when the buildings were completed).

It would undergo extensive renovations and redevelopment in the 2010s, part of which included a new arcade of shops and restaurants, along the waterfront. As a nod to the site’s history, one of the new restaurants was named the ‘Trocadero.’

You can find a beautiful ‘Wirth Bros Circus’ mosaic, along the walkway between the two main buildings.

More MUSEUM OF LOST