Buildings and Grounds Division

University history

Bendigo Campus

The Bendigo Faculty of La Trobe University has a history extending over 125 years from the foundation of the Bendigo School of Mines and Industries in 1873. The School, located in the city centre at McCrae Street, taught subjects relating to mining, chemistry, geology and metallurgy, but within 50 years the emphasis had changed from ‘education for miners’ to a complete technical college providing diploma and certificate courses in metallurgy, chemistry, mining, engineering, natural science, art and pharmacy.

In late 1950 a decision was made to build a new campus at Flora Hill, approximately 3 kilometres from the centre of the city and in 1965 after agreement had been reached for the tertiary section of the Bendigo Technical College to move to that site, a master plan for the new campus was prepared.

In 1966 tenders were let for the construction of an Engineering School and Senator John Gorton formally turned the first sod at the Campus. In April 1967, Premier Henry Bolte laid the foundation stone for the Bendigo Institute of Technology thus commencing a building program envisaged, at that time, to span 20 years and providing for an expected enrolment of 4,000 students. The Institute became a Body Corporate in 1970. As sections of the tertiary school of the Bendigo Technical College were moved to the Edwards Road Campus at Flora Hill, library facilities were established and by early 1973, the Engineering Building and the Applied Science 1 and 2 Buildings were completed and occupied. These accommodated the departments of Chemical and Biological Sciences, Metallurgy, Geology, Physics and Art (Ceramics, Painting, Graphic Design and Photography).

The first student residences were completed and occupied in 1973-74 and comprised 9 fully self-contained units each of 12 bedrooms, one of the first of a new non-collegiate style of accommodation.

In 1976 the Bendigo College of Advanced Education was established through a merger between the Bendigo Institute of Technology at the Edwards Road campus and the State College of Victoria at the Osborne Street campus, the latter having been originally established in 1926 as the Bendigo Teachers College at the old Court House in Camp Hill, Bendigo. The firm of Buchan, Laird and Buchan was appointed as master planners for the new College, with the Library/Union Building being constructed by 1980, followed by the Education Building to accommodate the former State College transferring from Osborne Street. In 1985, 1986 and 1988, the Visual Arts, Health Science and Student Union extension buildings, respectively, were completed. By 1996, a new building for the then School of Business had been completed and occupied.

In 1997 - 1998, temporary accommodation housing the academic areas of Outdoor Education, Science Education and Nature Tourism in the School of Education, was replaced with a purpose-built, environmentally sound building employing sustainable technologies such as the use of recycled timbers. Also in 1998 the Master Plan for the Edwards Road campus was reviewed with the aim of establishing planning directions and parameters for all future developments.

Since the development of the first student residences in 1974, additional residences have been constructed over the years with the number of students accommodated on the Edwards Road Campus totalling approximately 392. A further 342 students are accommodated on the Osborne Street campus and in various other off-campus University properties. The style of residential accommodation provided is a notable feature, including 4-bedroom, 8-bedroom and 12-bedroom units, all of which is fully self-contained domestic scale housing located in the natural bushland setting of the campus, a short distance from the academic precinct.

Landscaping of the campus has been a priority for many years, most planting and re-vegetation reflecting the philosophy of using, as far as possible, indigenous species as the predominant theme. The campus is characterised by red ironbark, grey box and stringy bark trees with the typical under-storey comprising grevillea, acacia, Bendigo wax flower and everlasting species. A large portion of the campus has been set aside as ‘bushland preserve’, being natural regrowth from earlier days of clearing for agriculture and timber cutting associated with mining operations.

Agreement for the Bendigo College of Advanced Education to affiliate with La Trobe University to form La Trobe University College of Northern Victoria was effected in 1991 and in 1994 the UNCV was fully integrated as a Faculty of La Trobe University.

Over the past thirty years, the Edwards Road campus has developed from its original raw state to become a most attractive University environment with a significant and interesting history.