Carlo transforms the St Kilda Foreshore from a Reeking Marsh to a Garden Beauty

A lovely tribute to Carlo, whose St Kilda Foreshore Committee turned the reeking marsh, which was the St Kilda Foreshore, into a beautiful garden based on Carlo's design; a garden fit  for both Royalty and the masses.  The article is from the Sun News-Pictorial, of August 23, 1932 (see here)  

From Reeking Marsh to Garden Beauty: St. Kilda’s Foreshore Represents Miracle of Achievement.
If civic pride glowed through the oratory at the unveiling yesterday afternoon, on St. Kilda Esplanade, of the clock tower memorial to the late Mr. Carlo Catani, designer of the St. Kilda foreshore beautifications, its expression there was pardonable. St. Kilda's foreshore beauty represents a miracle of achievement, brought about by rare civic enterprise.

Twenty-six years ago the foreshore was a noisome expanse of marsh, suggesting the desolation of the remote Scottish island from which the suburb derived its name. Today the vistas of lawns, gardens and shrubberies that extend for nearly two miles along the sea-front are unsurpassed by anything else of the kind in Australia.

The beautifications and the amusement places that have followed in their wake have made St Kilda a resort for the masses. The name is synonymous with carnival. Creation of a seaside pleasance for the working classes was the vision that prompted the transformation.

On two occasions at least Melbourne has had cause to be grateful for the splendor of St. Kilda’s seafront. These were the visits of the Prince of Wales and the Duke of York. St. Kilda provided the only landing-place where the royal visitors could be received with out the city feeling a sense of shame. Both their Royal Highnesses, and all other notable visitors who have been received at St. Kilda, expressed admiration of the foreshore beauty. Other tribute has come in the shape of requests from seaside municipalities from all over Australia for details of the beautification scheme.

An elaborate extension of the scheme had been proposed and will be put into effect if Government aid is forthcoming. The proposal is to reclaim a sector of the Bay from Blessington Street to Point Ormond. The reclaimed area would be 45 acres. This would be laid down in lawns and gardens, and incidental provision would be made for the widening of Marine Parade and the protection of residences along that thoroughfare from storm spray.

The St. Kilda-foreshore is controlled by a foreshore committee, representative of the St. Kilda Council and the Board of Works. It was formed in 1906 at the request of St. Kilda Council. Mr. Carlo Catani, who was chief engineer of the Board of Works, was a member of the original committee. The whole scheme of beautification was designed in one plan by Mr. Catani, and most of his conception had been put into effect before his death in 1918. The committee has worked since to his designs.

Financially, the foreshore scheme has been a success. Revenue from amusement places along the sea-front pays for the continuous extension and maintenance of the scheme.

The result of the St Kilda Foreshore reclamation works, c. 1931.

Image: Cooper, John Butler The History of St Kilda from its first settlement to a city and after 1840 - 1930, v. 2 

(St Kilda City Council, 1931), between pp 154 & 155.

The Foreshore Gardens were named in his honour in 1927. There is more about the St Kilda Foreshore in our Victorian Collections story on Carlo - https://victoriancollections.net.au/stories/carlo-catani-an-engineering-star-over-victoria/st-kilda-foreshore-gardens