This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Opponents of a plan to build an Apple store in Melbourne’s Federation Square have started a crowdfunding campaign to raise $40m to buy the Yarra Building to protect it from demolition.

The fundraising stunt – which comes with a promise from organisers that they will never call in the pledges made by supporters – comes as Heritage Victoria is preparing to consider a development application by the Federation Square authority.

The Victorian government announced its approval of the plan to build a flagship Apple store in Federation Square in December 2017.

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The plan, which requires the demolition of the Yarra Building, was met with considerable community opposition, including opposition from Melbourne City Council.

Heritage Victoria has received more than 2,000 submissions, mostly opposing the proposal, since the application for demolition and redevelopment was opened for public comment two weeks ago.

Submissions close on Wednesday, the day before Heritage Council Victoria, the independent body which determines whether buildings will be listed on the Victorian Heritage Register, is due to hold a directions hearing on whether to list Federation Square. The full hearing is scheduled for April.

Brett de Hoedt, the spokesman for community group Our City, Our Square, accused the Federation Square authority of “playing dirty” by submitting the application before the Heritage Council hearing.

De Hoedt said that allowing Apple to build its flagship store in the public square, which also houses the National Gallery of Victoria and the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) “will turn Fed Square into a lobby for Apple”.

He said the crowdfunding campaign was designed to protest the commercialisation of the square.

“It’s never been about the architecture, it’s about preserving that public space for the public,” he said. “There’s no design that is going to satisfy us.”

The Yarra Building has been slated for use as a commercial structure since Federation Square opened in 2002 and was not part of the original design competition, though it was built using the same concepts and materials.

Its main tenant is the Koorie Heritage Trust, which will be moved across the square to the Alfred Deakin Building.

The Federation Square authority said the Yarra Building has never met financial or visitor expectations and that, if the development permit was not approved, it will “experience considerable adverse economic impact associated with the decline in commercial activity at Federation Square”.

The proposed Apple store would be managed on a 21-year lease and be one of six flagship stores around the world.

Apple has redesigned its proposal from the concept unveiled in December 2017 following a series of working groups with the City of Melbourne and various government agencies.

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The new design is a slightly smaller building, still four storeys high, that resembles a box floating on another glass box, surrounded by more extensive landscaping sloping down to the Yarra River.

It was approved, with some conditions, by the Victorian government in September, despite ongoing concerns from the City of Melbourne.

A review by the City of Melbourne said the updated plans “strongly contrasts” with the existing architecture in Federation Square and would “visually compete” with other landmarks like the Ian Potter Centre, Flinders Street Station, and St Paul’s Cathedral in a way it suggested was inappropriate for a retail building.

But in a heritage impact statement completed on behalf of the Federation Square authority, Prof Donald Bates, whose firm originally designed the square, said the space was intended to change with time.

De Hoedt said Melbourne would be an ideal site for an Apple flagship store, provided it was placed in an existing commercial district.

“Heaven forbid they build it in Docklands and rejuvenate that dump,” he said.