100 years of an icon - Bayside Mayor Cr Debbie Taylor-Haynes and former Mayor of Sandringham Pauline Reynolds celebrate the centenary of the Sandringham Rotunda.
For 100 years, Sandringham Rotunda has been a familiar part of our foreshore, associated with music, community gatherings and one of Bayside's best views over the Bay.
This October, the landmark turns 100 and we're filling it with live music again to celebrate.
Sandringham's first rotunda was built in 1908, when band rotundas were popular gathering places and brass bands a major form of entertainment. The original structure was replaced in 1926 by the rotunda we know today, a gift from local doctor Thomas Garnet Leary. It was designed in reinforced concrete by Sandringham Council engineer William Sunderland, a pioneer in the material's use for roads and buildings.
The rotunda underwent major restorations in 1986 and 2004, while lighting installed in 1994 made it visible from out on the Bay at night.
For local historian and former Sandringham Mayor Pauline Reynolds, the rotunda's pioneering construction is synonymous with everyday Sandringham life.
"You come down Melrose Street and there it is. It's part of Sandy people's lives," she said.
Pauline's connection to the rotunda stretches across decades. As a wedding photographer, she captured happy couples posing under the arches and later, as Mayor, she was behind the camera again when around 1,000 local primary school children gathered for a Victorian Children's Aid Society fundraiser. Pauline took the photograph from a Council cherry picker in her mayoral robes.
A century on, live music will again fill the Rotunda across a month of free concerts.
Bayside Mayor, Cr Debbie Taylor-Haynes said the event series was a fitting way to celebrate.
"It's a wonderful way to continue the legacy of this iconic Bayside landmark," she said.
Centenary celebrations begin on Sunday 25 October with local musicians, Men in Suits choir, Gippsland Community Band and Melbourne Tramways Big Band.
Free concerts continue every Saturday in November with Hoodoo Mayhem on 7 November, Alárìíyá on 14 November and Melbourne Rainbow Band on 21 November.
Melbourne Tramways Brass Band closes the series on 28 November, bringing brass music back in its centenary year.
All concerts are free. Bookings are required.
