The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group A New Home in Chadstone Dave Botherway & Ash Nallawalla |
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Dave Botherway and Ash Nallawalla have teamed up to write about this exciting news |
Four years of searching for new premises to overcome the Dorcas Street
shortfalls is being rewarded with a move into new facilities above the Chadstone
Shopping Centre, and it's scheduled for practical completion at the end of
October. This is our fifth home in 20 years. Each move was followed by a growth
in membership and activities at the new location.
1. Cecil Street
Our first home in late 1988 was at 12 Cecil St, but it had room only for the
part-time office administrator. Our membership then was 2400. We hired rooms for
training and SIG meetings as needed. At the time, our President, the late John
Beck wrote:
"Many people have gone into print to expound that a large membership is the key
to success. This is not so in many respects. Due to a very rapid increase in our
membership over the past 18 months, we have been obliged to have a paid
Administration Officer, and rent office space. The larger our membership, the
more the workload of the administration increases.
"The location envisaged would be close to the City for convenience, and as most
of our members live on the East side, it would be on that side preferably. It
would be on or very close to a main road, so that it was easily found by
strangers to the area. The building could be a shop, house, church or school no
longer required, or even a vacant lot to build on. Naturally there must be room
for parking, and it must not cost a small fortune."
2. St Kilda Road
We moved to 568 St Kilda Road in February 1991, when our membership was 6000. At
the time, our President, Spen Ingamells wrote:
"Our Group is almost ready to acquire its own premises. The committee is
currently investigating a number of possibilities that would see the group
owning its own premises before the end of this financial year.
"Imagine being a member of the biggest, most interesting and exciting User Group
in the world. Wouldn't it be great to drop in for a chat, meet some friends in
the lounge, buy virtually anything you could want from the members-only retail
shop in the corner and then have coffee and relax before your Training Course
began.
"We could have a real life alternative to the present Dial Help Service. This is
not suggesting we do away with Dial Help but with our own building, we could be
set up so that some of our more experienced members were on hand at various
times to show us on one of the Group's PCs how something is done rather than
trying to explain over the phone.
"How will we do it, you ask. Well, just a couple of weeks ago, a building that
would have been ideal for our use was sold for $550,000. The same property was
sold eighteen months previously for $930,000. That's the recession at work, so
why not let it work in our favour. Do I hear somebody out there asking where can
the Group find $500,000 - CASH? The answer, of course, is from the membership!
Obviously there would be very few members who would be in a position to spend
$500,000, however by the time the December Annual General Meeting rolls round,
that amount could, for example, be represented by a debenture of say $85 per
member".
3. Albert Road
In 1992, our home was 66 Albert Road - 288 square metres - when membership
reached 7000. At last we had three office rooms, a BBS room, and a SIG room that
held about 35 people. These premises saw a period of innovation and growth, such
as our Internet Service.
4. Dorcas Street
We moved to 27 Dorcas Street in October 1997, when our membership reached almost
10,000. Then-President Stan Johnstone wrote:
"We have gained a street front exposure to the public that we previously lacked.
Already this exposure has attracted new members, and it has provided an
attractive centre which has encouraged many members to just drop in and see what
we are all about.
"Facilities have been improved, and already there are plans for additional
equipment and increased accessibility to features. The problem of office
security which was a major concern in Albert Road has now been overcome. It has
become a more attractive office to work in, and we hope it will be a more
attractive place for you to visit to attend SIGs, training courses, and the
like."
Dorcas Street gave our Internet Service and BBS their own air-conditioned rooms,
but the true winners were the city SIGs and the Training group. SIGs at other
locations were also infected with the enthusiasm and new ones continue to be
started. However, in April 2004, current President Dave Botherway reported:
Building Entrance
Facilities
Vehicle Access
"As the existing rental arrangements for Dorcas Street are due to expire in July
this year, we are reviewing some of their shortcomings:
"We have conducted surveys amongst the membership, where 1,500+ respondents
showed an overwhelming preference for the office facilities to be located in the
south-east sector. The results also indicate that provided appropriate access
and parking were available, SIG and training course attendance could double.
This aspect is validated by our current experience where monthly meetings held
out-east have double the attendance of our Parkville/City meetings. It is
recognised however that some members currently attending Dorcas Street SIGs
would prefer the status quo. Ways of meeting some of those City location needs
must also be considered.
"Our capacity problems are not limited to the City, as our three largest groups
(Video Editing at Balwyn, East at Blackburn and Retirees at Syndal) all have
space and/or parking issues. The Buildings Subcommittee has looked at more than
70 sites and studied their options to address all these existing shortcomings."
5. Now, the Chadstone Centre"
With adequate (and free) parking being a key factor for a new site, the use of a
Shopping Centre - where our parking needs are at opposite times to most shoppers
- offered a good solution. An office area within the Chadstone Shopping Centre (Melway
Map 69,E4) became available, and planning commenced for the second level of the
Chadstone Place building.
Figure 1. Geographical Location. (Special thanks to Melway Publishing for
the background map).
The entrance is on the Southern side of the Centre between the National Bank and
My Chemist (undergoing reconstruction work) or through an internal corridor
opposite Bi-Lo, with lift and stair access to the second floor. These premises
address the key Dorcas St shortcomings and give us spare capacity for the
future. We can offer meeting space at "friendly" rates to other computing groups
and explore sponsorship opportunities for vendors. Disabled members and visitors
can use a lift to use our facilities, which include a disabled toilet.
Figure 2. Photo taken from the South East with the above-ground, southern
parking area still empty in the early
morning. The highlighted band of windows shows the 2nd floor, which Melb
PC is occupying.
As shown in Figure 3 below there are two large meeting rooms on the South side,
holding 90 and 70 people respectively, which can be combined to seat 180. The
sound system in the larger room will also provide Hearing Aid support. The third
meeting room will seat 24, along with a Committee Room for 12. The Training room
will accommodate normal seating for 18 as well as 12 computer workstations,
totalling 30 people if needed. Meeting rooms and the training room will have
overhead data projectors to minimise set-up time.
To address the need for hands-on network training and for the Communications and
Windows-2000 groups, a further room has been set aside and cabled for that
purpose. We also expect to use it for network gaming, as an attraction for
younger members. A purpose-built Library will make our books and magazines more
accessible, as part of a drop-in /coffee facility.
A few existing rooms initially surplus to our needs, will be made available as
serviced offices to members once we have settled in, and there is room for three
more serviced offices if appropriate. This still leaves us with plenty of open
space for displays or to mingle with fellow members during breaks in meetings.
Figure 3. Proposed Floor plan for Chadstone Place. It remains essentially
unchanged.
Car access is available, firstly via Middle Road from the Warrigal Road
entrance, where you turn left at the first roundabout inside the Shopping Centre
precinct. If you arrive travelling east along Dandenong Road there is a handy
entrance at the second set of traffic lights past Chadstone Road. This takes you
straight into the parking area in front of Chadstone place. There is plenty of
free parking, with disabled spaces directly in front, and then one- and two-hour
zones. On the perimeter and in the large underground parking area there is
4-hour parking - plus there is unlimited parking available on the middle and top
levels of the Coles multi-storey car park on the Eastern side, just north of the
roundabout.
Public Transport
With Chadstone being a Bus hub, there are numerous daytime routes as listed on
the Location Map (page 6) and described in detail with timetables etc at
http://www.alphalink.com.au/~parkerp/meltrip.htm.
At night, Route 700 along Warrigal Rd connects to Holmesglen / Box Hill stations
until 10.30 pm, and to Oakleigh Station until 11.30 pm.
Overall, the new facility solves the four key shortcomings of Dorcas Street, but
will be more difficult for members in the Western / Northern suburbs. To offset
this situation, a subgroup has recently been formed in Wyndham, we have put
additional equipment into our Essendon facility and are now looking at ways to
bolster offerings in the Northern areas.
Hopefully, home Number 6 will be many years away.
Reprinted from the November 2004 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia
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