The second stage of the landmark $880 million Kinnears Ropeworks residential development is expected to be launched early next year, with former workers’ stories being collected to preserve some of the Footscray site’s history.
Nearly 20 years after closing its doors following more than a century of operation, the rope factory site in Ballarat Road is being redeveloped into a residential, retail and community precinct named Ropeworks Footscray.
As part of R&F Property Australia’s redevelopment, three historic buildings are being restored and networks of heritage laneways will be preserved.
Braybrook’s Jeff Moore, 63, last week took a trip down memory lane, revisiting the site where he started work at age 17 and where his parents, Bill and Freda, met and fell in love.
“My father worked there 40-plus years,” Mr Moore said.
“During World War II, he wanted to go off to the war but Kinnears said that he had to stop home because it was an essential service.
“He was very disappointed that all his mates were going off to fight and he wasn’t.
“He ended up meeting my mother there and they married.
“Dad was a storeman for the engineers – he held that position for 30-something years and then had a stroke.
“They created a position for him in the methods department, which was where they worked out bonuses for workers.“
Mr Moore said he was glad the developers would honourhis father’s and other workers’ stories within the development, but described the end of an era as “kind of sad“.
“Every time you drive past the place, now, all these memories start flooding back from the great picnics the engineers used to have and the actual Kinnears Ropes itself used to have,“ he said.
“They were very good Christmas picnics.“
He said the engineers and their families were treated to picnics at Wandin North in the Yarra Ranges, while a Christmas party was hosted by Kinnears’ social club in the factory’s canteen.
“It was always a good place to work,“ Mr Moore said.
“Every Friday night, there was a group of people that would do a progressive dinner, going to each other’s places. The men would play cards and the women would sit around and watch movies and gasbag.
“They were a really close-knit community, really.“
Fittingly, the first $5.6 million heritage restoration completed by R&F was an 1800 square metre brick building that was once a rope dispensary and the dining hall for Kinnears’ workers.
R&F vice president Thomas Chiu said many residents of Footscray and surrounds held vivid and dear memories of the factory.
“We are committed to keeping the Kinnears history alive through this commitment to conservation,” he said.
“As part of this plan, we are also currently recording as many of these heart-warming local memories as possible to create a legacy for future generations.”
The first apartment tower, comprising 208 dwellings and known as Live City at Ropeworks, has been completed at the site.
It includes a bar and lounge and a level 12 rooftop garden and Skydeck, with apartments starting at $348,000.
The development will ultimately have eight luxury residential and mixed-use buildings, plus cafes, restaurants, a supermarket, gym, and a childcare centre.
