Old Castlemaine Gaol sold to school for $2.6m
Old Castlemaine Gaol.
A once notorious regional Victorian jail has been sold for close to $2.6m to an alternative schooling group.
The old Castlemaine Gaol, between Melbourne and Bendigo, had been used most recently as a museum for celebrated artist David Bromley, will now be turned into an educational hub by Global Village Learning.
The educators plan to accommodate students aged 12-20 at the former prison before the end of 2025, with 50 families having expressed interest this week, as well as using it to house creative residences.
GVL executive director Peter Hutton said the former jail would provide an expansion from their current site in New Gisborne for pupils aged 4-20, with hopes it would host up to 200 people as learners or guides in two hubs.
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The Old Castlemaine Gaol has been sold for close to $2.6m
The jail had been used most recently as a museum for celebrated artist David Bromley.
The jail will now be turned into an educational hub by Global Village Learning.
The rest of the space would be available for community engagement, with plans to also reopen the old Governor’s Cafe.
Mr Hutton noted that their goal was not to be seen as a school, but a community education space where students would pursue their interests through programs like a zookeeper-like one working with reptiles at their New Gisborne campus, working with farm animals, making jewellery, learning 3D printing or martial arts.
“Traditional schools are more like a gaol than this will be, with a lot of time sitting down,” Mr Hutton said.
“This will be about real world learning, and learning through doing.”
McQueen Real Estate’s Kim McQueen handled the sale of the property and while she would not comment on the price, noted that all parties had been happy with the result.
Ms McQueen noted that other interested buyers had considered a Pentridge-style redevelopment as happened to one of Victoria’s most notorious prisons in Coburg, but it had been unclear if heritage protections would allow for this.
The educators plan to accommodate students aged 12-20 at the former prison before the end of 2025.
The rest of the space would be available for community engagement.
David and Yuge Bromley said they “couldn’t be more delighted” at the jail’s “perfect” next step, and added that it was what they believed the building needed.
The pair had initially listed the site with hopes of a $10m sale including Mr Bromley’s art in 2023, but have subsequently sold most of the sculptures and other medium works in separate online auctions.
The 1.73ha property was recently relisted with a $2.6m-$2.8m asking price, and industry sources have indicated they achieved a figure close to that sum.
It came with jail cells still in place, as well as its walls and towers.
The Castlemaine Gaol was opened in 1861 and closed in 1990, but prior to that had housed inmates including multiple murderer and rapist Peter Dupas, while its governor from 1868-1875 was Thomas Francis Hyland who went on to found Penfolds.
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