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Melbourne historic church could fetch $5.5m
Melbourne historic church could fetch $5.5m

News.com.au

timea day ago

  • Business
  • News.com.au

Melbourne historic church could fetch $5.5m

A landmark Armadale church linked to a former Victorian premier and coffee house baron has been listed for sale with $5.5m+ price hopes. Wealthy businessman and land owner James Munro laid the heritage-listed Uniting Church's foundation stone in 1886. Mr Munro, who served as Victorian Premier from 1880-1882, purchased the land at 86B Kooyong Rd for the house of worship to be built upon. Designed by the Melbourne architecture firm Terry & Oakden, the Early English Gothic-style church features a nave, transept, apsis, organ, tower and spire, and seven car spaces. The 1438sq m site is also home to an interconnected building that has been converted to an office and is leased out on a short-term basis to a commercial tenant. CVA Property Consultants' managing director Ian Angelico and director Daniel Philip have the General Residential zoned-listing. 'The church is definitely a landmark,' Mr Angelico. 'The architecture is just magnificent, the stained glass windows are absolutely stunning.' He is expecting potential buyers to include community and religious groups, developers and owner-occupiers. 'There is scope to develop because of the very high ceilings, that would be subject to planning approval and the building would have to remain intact because of its heritage status,' Mr Angelico said. 'It could also possibly become an auction house or something similar.' Stonnington Council heritage documents state that the church is of historical significance for reasons including its association with Mr Munro. Alongside his political career and many business interests, he established several coffee palaces – accommodation and dining venues that did not serve alcohol – in locations including Melbourne, Geelong and Broken Hill in the 1800s. He was a partner in a company that bought Spring St's Grand Hotel, later Hotel Windsor, and turned it into a coffee palace. The church is 220m from Armadale train station and on the corner of High St's shopping strip. A post on the church's website stated that 'the hard decision to close' was made due the congregation's declining numbers and finances needed to support a minister and other expenses across the next five years. A church spokesperson said their last service was held in May, with congregation members joining other nearby places of worship including the Toorak Uniting Church. The Armadale site has roots going back to 1876 with the establishment of a Sunday school by the then-Toorak Presbyterian Church.

Man charged with arson after church fire in Auckland
Man charged with arson after church fire in Auckland

RNZ News

time2 days ago

  • RNZ News

Man charged with arson after church fire in Auckland

A blaze has gutted the church at Saint Mary's Catholic School in Avondale, Auckland. Photo: RNZ / Victor Waters A man has been charged with arson after a fire tore through an Auckland church. An investigation was launched after a fire at St Mary's Church on Great North Road in Avondale at about 4.20am on 14 July. There were no injuries, however, the building was seriously damaged. Detective Senior Sergeant Rebecca Kirk said officers arrested a 42-year-old man at a New Lynn property on Monday night. He has been charged with arson and will appear in Auckland District Court on Tuesday.

EXCLUSIVE Transgender woman who grew up in strict Catholic household now makes millions selling racy snaps
EXCLUSIVE Transgender woman who grew up in strict Catholic household now makes millions selling racy snaps

Daily Mail​

time3 days ago

  • Entertainment
  • Daily Mail​

EXCLUSIVE Transgender woman who grew up in strict Catholic household now makes millions selling racy snaps

A transgender woman who spent years hiding her sexuality while living in a strict Catholic household has revealed she now makes over $1 million a year selling racy snaps of herself after being shunned by the church. Lana Madison, who was born male, was raised in an extremely conservative community in southern Texas. From a young age she was into 'feminine' things, but she was forced to 'pretend to be masculine' out of fear of how the people at her church would react. 'Growing up Catholic was tough. I was so feminine but constantly at odds with who I was,' she explained exclusively to the Daily Mail. 'It was hard pretending to be masculine while everything inside me screamed the opposite.' Lana recalled 'faking asthma attacks' to get out of Mass when the priest would 'start preaching anti-gay rhetoric.' But as Lana got older, she said she couldn't hold in her true self anymore. Eventually, word began to spread that she 'was into boys,' and it led to the community turning on both her and her family. 'I managed to disguise myself for a while until I couldn't anymore,' she continued. 'Once people found out I was into boys, my friends dropped me. 'But that rejection weirdly gave me freedom. I no longer had to pretend. I leaned into being an openly effeminate guy, and eventually, that led me toward my truth.' While her parents were certainly shocked at first, they ultimately came around. 'My parents may be Catholic and conservative, but they've always loved me unconditionally,' she explained. 'When I came out, it wasn't easy for [my parents]. They didn't embrace everything right away, but they never made me feel unloved. 'Even as they were being shunned by people in their community, they told others and me that they'd rather have a relationship with their child than a dead child. 'That kind of love gave me strength. They didn't always get everything right, and it took time for them to adjust to my name and pronouns. 'But I knew they loved me, and that gave me the confidence to stand tall in who I was becoming.' Eventually, word began to spread that she 'was into boys,' and it lead to the whole community turning on both her and her family Lana realized that she was transgender while she was in college when a drag queen friend put her in full glam for the first time and she started undergoing hormone therapy at age 21 Lana realized that she was transgender while she was in college when a drag queen friend put her in full glam for the first time and she started undergoing hormone therapy at age 21. During her transition, Lana realized that to become the girl she truly dreamed of being she would have to go under the knife multiple times because there were so many things about her appearance that she wanted to change. So instead of going through recovery over and over again, she decided to do it all at once - undergoing a whopping 15 procedures during one marathon 10-hour surgery. This included having her hairline pulled down, fat grafting to her cheeks, shaving down her Adam's apple, getting buccal fat pads partially removed, a rhinoplasty, brow lift, breast augmentation, and other tweaks to her lips and forehead. 'I wanted to go under and wake up as a new person,' she explained. 'I didn't want to spend years in and out of recovery, nitpicking parts of myself, constantly planning the next procedure. I wanted to just be done and move forward in my life. 'I didn't want to heal one part of myself while still dealing with dysphoria about another. I wanted to wake up in a body that felt whole.' She looks at the transformation as a 'rebirth' and said she feels like it has given her a 'second chance at life.' Her conservative parents are not exactly fond of her career choice, but they just want her to be happy. She dished, 'They might not understand every part of it, but they understand me' And now, Lana - who went on to get a hair transplant and two more boob jobs - claimed she earns over $1 million a year by selling sultry snaps online and has raked in more than 76,000 followers on Instagram. Her conservative parents are not exactly fond of her career choice, but they just want her to be happy. 'My parents might have preferred I choose a different career path. But they see how much freedom I have,' Lana dished. 'I get to set my own schedule, I'm not risking my safety working some soul-crushing job for someone else, and I'm thriving doing something that actually pays. 'They might not understand every part of it, but they understand me. They know I'm empowered, independent, and exactly where I'm supposed to be.' In the end, she's said she's immensely proud of herself for overcoming everything she's endured.

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