100 years ago
3 April 1924
It will be greeted with much satisfaction by all Dandenong that a start has been made in the extensions and improvements at the Dandenong Railway Station. The engineer has the matter now in hand and no delay is to take place in commencing the work. The whole work, so far as the roads are concerned is embraced in the arrangement whereby the traffic presently entering the town from the Brighton Road and Hammond Road is to be diverted into the new road, which will take the course in a straight line from the Brighton Road, by way of Grace Street, across the heart of Dandenong Estate, under the railway at Kingsbury’s corner, into Foster Street and to Lonsdale Street. The entrance to the platform from the south will be in Hammond Road, 100 yards from where the new road begins in Hammond Road.
50 years ago
2 April 1974
Karate boss says – “I’ll straighten the kids out!”
“Bring me all the louts and street corner kids in Dandenong and I’ll straighten them out …“ so says burly karate instructor, Bob Jones. Bob, a third black belt holder, runs karate schools throughout Australia, plans to establish a school in Dandenong. He said “if the louts and street corner kids come in and their excess energies are channelled the right way – with proper training and discipline – they inevitably make the best tournament fighters, and if their aggressive energies are dissipated through tournament fighting under strictly controlled conditions – they will have no interest in street brawls.”
20 years ago
5 April 2004
Opinions vary as storm in a T-shirt blows over.
WESTCO’s Dandenong and Fountain Gate stores appear to be at odds last week about female staff wearing a controversial, tight-fitting T-shirt. Last week, a Westco city female employee refused to wear a T-shirt bearing the slogan ‘Stop pretending you don’t want me’ after she was harassed by a male customer. Her stand later forced the company to recall the garment. The Fountain Gate female store manager, who did not want to be identified, said her staff were proud to don the T-shirt. “We wear them with pride. I think it’s been blown out of all proportion by the media. Our staff love wearing them.” However, the female manager at the Dandenong Plaza, not wanting to be identified for fear of losing her job, said she and her staff no longer wore the T-shirt.
5 years ago
1 April 2019
Last rides for velodrome
The morning was bitter cold as a hardy band of protesters witnessed the demolition of the Maurice Kirby Velodrome in Noble Park. The track, named after sports legend and Pedal’s Club of Victoria founder Maurice Kirby, makes way for the council’s $11 million upgrade of Parkfield Reserve including a shared walking-cycling track. Over the past seven months, cyclists had banded vigorously against the plan and fought the Dandenong Council to the bitter end. Maurice Kirby’s family publicly denounced the demolition, requesting his name not be associated with the new reserve.
