PRINCES PIER, Port Melbourne, VIC

As a photographer, one of the places on my photography "bucket list" for quite some time was Princes Pier in Port Melbourne, Victoria. While in Melbourne in 2014, we visited there on 2 separate occasions in order to gain some images that I had in mind -- but the weather was a little moody both times. It was certainly worth the visit though!

Princes Pier is a 580 metre long historic pier on Port Phillip Bay, in Port Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

The pier was constructed between 1912 and 1915 by the Melbourne Harbour Trust to supplement the adjacent Station Pier (originally the 'Railway Pier'). From completion in 1915 until 1969 it was also a major arrival point for new migrants, particularly during the post-war period. In addition to a pier, there was a gatehouse and barriers, terminal building, amenities rooms, goods lockers, ablution blocks, railway sidings and passenger gangways.

With the containerisation boom the pier became unused, being closed to public access in the early 1990s due to the poor timber condition, and squatters caused a fire in the late 1990s that destroyed the store structures. In the three years to 2004, 14 fires occurred.
A refurbishment estimated to cost $14 million was announced by the State Government in April 2006, with the first 196 metres of the Pier fully restored, beyond that point the decking would be removed and the original pylons preserved. A full restoration was estimated at $60 million. A contract for the work was awarded in June 2007, and work began in October of the same year. The pier reopened to the public in December 2011.

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