In September 2022, the terracotta pavers along Belmore Rd where Koonung Heights Primary School once stood (now the Scarborough Square Housing Estate) were roughly dug up, broken and tossed in piles. These terracotta pavers were made by students of Koonung Heights Primary School to commemorate the closing of their school in 1993.
In May 2024, after almost two years of campaigning, what is left of the terracotta pavers have been installed in the pocket park where Koonung Heights Primary School once stood. The Whitehorse Council has created a garden bed and installed about 55 of the original 200 plus pavers within the garden bed.
The blue plaque that was in the centre of the pavers with the name of Koonung Heights Primary School and the date (1993) was not laid at the same time as the other pavers.
I recently received an email from the Whitehorse council which stated: ‘Council officers have arranged for a new plaque to be constructed and placed at the new garden bed along Belmore Road. It will replicate the original wording as shown in the image below. The works will be completed in the new financial year (2024/25)’.
I along with other local residents and former students of Koonung Heights Primary School look forward to the blue plaque being placed in the garden bed.
This situation may not have happened if the Whitehorse Council had an online Community heritage nomination process similar to which Boroondara Council has to identify potential heritage sites. At the very least council should have fully assessed the site to ascertain if the terracotta pavers were of any heritage value for the City of Whitehorse before they were dug up and largely destroyed.
You can read about the easy to use and transparent Boroondara online ‘Community heritage nomination’ process here: Nominate a heritage place | City of Boroondara
You can watch a video of the creation of the garden bed here: Whitehorse Heritage | Facebook
Koonung Height Primary School around 1954
This article is a follow up to my article titled Commemorative student bricks dug up! that appeared in the Eastsider News in February 2023. See below.