The Future Melville City Centre
We have a bold vision of a future Melville City Centre that provides a place for people to gather and connect, experience culture, arts, events, entertainment and excellent dining, and will be a place to enjoy and celebrate with friends and family.
A focal point of the Melville City Centre will be a vibrant high street and town square, linking the retail and entertainment precincts to the cultural and civic spaces and enhancing integration with Yagan Mia Wireless Hill.
The Melville City Centre includes Westfield Booragoon Shopping Centre, the City’s Civic Centre and the surrounding area bordered by Riseley, Almondbury, Marmion and Davy Streets in Booragoon, which will grow into a mixed-use centre with opportunities for people to visit, live and work in.
At the heart of the Melville City Centre will be the exciting new library and cultural centre that will transform the current Civic Square Library site.
Our Cultural Heart -
The City of Melville is a step closer to strengthening the heart of our city and community life with its largest place and economic development initiative to date – redevelopment of the central civic area to create a multifaceted destination and reimagining our centre.
The plan to build the new library and cultural centre will be known as the Cultural Heart Project and will result in exceptional learning and creative spaces for City residents and the wider community of Perth to come and enjoy, experience and learn in.
The Cultural Heart Project will deliver a new library and cultural centre that will build on connections with existing libraries, galleries, museums and performance sites across the City and will include an interactive and expanded library, gallery, museum, performance, development, and flexible creative spaces.
The bold and ambitious project will increase Melville’s cultural capacity and identity, providing improved access for all to the latest resources, and new ways to interact with and discover the breadth of our arts programming, events and experiences.
This vibrant hub will not only promote cultural vitality through investment in Arts, Culture, History, Literature and learning, but also act as a catalyst for urban activation, social engagement and community development.
The library and cultural centre will foster connection, belonging, and inclusion, offering new opportunities for people to gather, engage, and enrich their lives in a space that is safe, trusted, accessible, and inspiring. This facility aligns with the City’s Council Plan, reinforcing our vision of a vibrant, sustainable, and inclusive Melville.
As part of the broader Melville City Centre redevelopment, the library and cultural centre will:
- Serve as a cultural anchor with a unique identity at the heart of the city.
- Provide a place for people within a mixed-use precinct of retail, commercial, and residential spaces.
- Feature active street frontages and extended hours, enhancing the vibrancy of the precinct.
The City’s Cultural Infrastructure Strategy, which was endorsed by Council in November 2022 following input from the community, recommends the new library and cultural space in the Melville City Centre include flexible spaces for artmaking, performance and general community use.
City of Melville welcomes $15 million Federal Government funding for Library and Cultural Centre
The City of Melville is welcoming $15 million worth of funding through the Federal Government’s Thriving Suburbs Program for its future Library and Cultural Centre, which is the largest and most significant cultural development project ever to be undertaken by the City.
Read more here.
Image: City of Melville Chief Executive Officer Gail Bowman, Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government Catherine King, Member for Tangney Sam Lim and City of Melville Deputy Mayor Karen Wheatland at the Civic Square Library.
Community Consultation
The proposed library and cultural centre, will become the Cultural Heart of our future Melville City centre, responding to our community’s aspirations as identified in our Strategic Community Plan: People, Places, and Participation 2016-2020.The City has been developing the Cultural Heart concept after it was identified in the Culture Plan – Creative Melville 2018-2022 which was informed by a unique community consultation event- MERGE Festival.
In 2017, more than 16,000 people came along to our MERGE Festival, a family-friendly festival of possibilities which marked the start of extensive engagement on the new Melville City Centre.
The community generated more than 2,100 ideas about what they would like to see in the future City Centre, with the proposed library and cultural centre becoming a key catalyst in our cultural plan, Creative Melville 2018-2022.
The new Centre will contribute significantly to our City's cultural vitality, giving our community a stronger sense of place and belonging and a cultural identity that will be unique to Melville.
Westfield Booragoon Shopping Centre Redevelopment
An important project related to the future Melville City Centre is the redevelopment of Westfield Booragoon Shopping Centre, which will seamlessly connect with the future library and cultural centre.
The approved development includes a shopping centre expansion, including additional retail and commercial tenancies, an outdoor dining and entertainment precinct, and additional parking.
With an expansion of the Westfield Booragoon Shopping Centre now approved by the Western Australian Planning Commission (WAPC), this investment will provide encouragement for a range of commercial, retail, community and residential uses on surrounding land, adding to the attraction and range of community services in the area.
While the Library and Cultural Centre and Westfield Booragoon redevelopment will both bring vitality and vibrancy to the City of Melville, the Library and Cultural Centre project is not dependent on the Westfield project and are run separately.
FAQ's
The Library and Cultural Centre has been a long-term strategic project for the City of Melville, the need having been established over the last ten years. The original business case was approved in 2015. Significant community consultation regarding the project occurred in 2017 and the resulting need was further recognised and embedded in the City’s Cultural Infrastructure Strategy. The updated Business Case was endorsed by Council in March 2024.
In mid-2026 work will commence on the Library and Cultural Centre that will replace the aging Civic Square Library that is no longer fit for purpose and create a home for the City’s municipal museum that has been in storage awaiting the development of the Library and Cultural Centre. This new facility will create a vibrant Cultural Heart where the community can connect, learn, create and enjoy.
The facility will sit across four levels with a total floor space of 5080 sqm. The new Library and Cultural Centre will retain the core services of the library, expanding to be the City’s main library, as well as additional services and facilities including the City’s municipal museum, exhibitions, creative, meeting and performance spaces and a cafe. The facility will create space for increased events and programming, bringing together a convergence of arts and culture in the one facility.
External Render Concept Design – Christou Design Group