A new mural celebrating the strong history of Yarra Junction was unveiled at the Yarra Centre on Friday 11 July.
The mural depicts the town’s fight for a community pool through a haphazard collection of roughly a hundred historic newspaper clippings, carefully crafted photo collages and posters.
Built by Yarra Valley Signs and designed by the Supporters and Workers of the Yarra Centre Multipurpose Complex (SWYM), the mural has been in development since November last year.
SWYM member Rosemary Crowley said the aim for the mural was to teach the Yarra Junction community not only its rich history, but also the power of collective action.
“I wanted the mural to inspire people to work for what they want. If the community wants something, then they should not just sit back, they should get out and do it,” Ms Crowley said.
Yarra Valley Signs owner Brad Charman constructed the mural for SWYM group and said he felt proud to have played a role in the centre’s history.
“It’s been a real honour to be able to be part of that story, and to meet Helen, and Guy, and Rosemary, and the people behind it.
“It’s a good way to say thanks as well,” Mr Charman said.
The Yarra Centre was the culmination of endless community advocacy which all started in 1958 with the construction of the Yarra Junction Community Pool.
The pool would stay open until its closure in 1991 caused an uproar within the community who felt its hard work was being abolished by the Yarra Ranges Council.
But a strong and disciplined group of community members struck a deal with the council which would see a pool built, but only if the Yarra Centre Stadium was built first for other recreational facilities.
The Yarra Junction community raised funds for the stadium in whatever ways possible, which even saw an entire house built on a donated block of land and then sold with the proceeds directly funding the new stadium and pool by extension.
In 1995, the Yarra Stadium was opened and a huge opening ceremony was held – but Ms Crowley said fundraising for the pool itself was where the hard work started.
“Then we had to have the hard work. We had to find more money for the pool,” Ms Crowley said.
“So it’s 10 years of actually fundraising and working and working and striving for it.”
Eventually, the pool was completed in 2005 and the community finally had its beloved pool back.
Now, the Yarra Centre and its pool are a staple of the Yarra Junction township, providing a swathe of recreational and fitness opportunities for the community.
The mural’s approach to history is unique as there’s no sense of order among the articles – one could go from reading an article from 1958, to the opening in 1995, and back to the pool’s closure in 1991.
The scattered design is intentional though, as it meant people could discover a new story upon every visit of the mural.
“People can see a new part of the story each time they go there, because otherwise if it were just a picture and a story they would read it and probably not read it again,” Mr Charman said.
“It’s a little chaotic and I like that. It’s not dull, it’s creative, you know, it’s an art piece.”
But in a way, the “chaotic” display also reflected the SWYM committee’s struggle in getting the Yarra Centre pool built.
“I thought it really throws you into the experience of what they had to go through to get a whole lot of people to get this thing built,” Mr Charman said.
“The mural is not clean, and I don’t think the journey to getting it built was as well.”
