Block Arcade

Block Arcade was classified as a private arcade.

Named 1892/93.

Located at or near: 282-284 Collins St.

Probable or possible origin of name: 'The Block', 'Doing">https://www.emelbourne.net.au/biogs/EM00479b.htm">Doing the Block', shopping block bounded by Collins, Swanston, Bourke, Elizabeth Streets.

Location is approximate.

For more information, see: Bate, W., Broome, R., Davis, N., May, A. J., & Stitt, H. (2024). The story of Melbourne’s lanes: Essential but unplanned (pp. 3, 11, 79, 183, 12-13, 84-85, 210, 213). ISBN 978-1-875173-12-9.

"Can Melbourne's lanes continue to be the city's best-kept secret while at the same time being saturated with promotional material? Are the predominant historical narratives around Melbourne's lanes in danger of being fetishised into extinction? Only time will tell, but the historical understanding of their cultural significance that was so clearly articulated in Weston Bate's book will continue to be relevant. In the interim, the 'Arcades and Laneways' Melbourne walk is touted as the 'ultimate way to see Melbourne on foot, with its iconic' features and 'hidden hotspots' including Degraves Street (for street art and brunch), Centre Place ('offbeat shops'), Scott Alley, Cathedral Arcade, Manchester Lane (independent designers'), Block and Royal arcades, Hardware Lane, Warburton Lane, Whitehart Lane (for a cocktail), Rankins Lane, Somerset Place (coffee odyssey'), Driver Lane ('basement bar'), and Postal Lane (lush vertical garden). Meanwhile, off the heavily curated sections of the grid, the more humdrum and mundane of Melbourne's laneways await rediscovery and makeover, just going about their gritty business as they have for over a century and a half." p. 183.