The City of Melbourne’s Deputy Lord Mayor Nicholas Reece visited the Greek Centre and met with Greek Community of Melbourne (GCM) President Bill Papastergiadis OAM and Greek Qtr Precinct President and Greek Centre Director Jorge Menidis on Friday, May 26.
Cr Reece shared his Greek heritage with Mr Papastergiadis and Menidis and canvassed a number of points that affect the Greek Community and Precinct including the Antipodes Festival, the Greek Quarter Business Precinct’s 5-year plan and the return to a new normal from the depths of the pandemic of the central business district.
Cr Reece said: “It’s always great to catch up with Bill and Jorge at the Greek Community Centre in Lonsdale Street – so I was delighted to drop in on them recently.”
“After years of border closures and lockdowns there’s never been a better time for all of us to get behind the great work of the Greek Community Centre – to reconnect and celebrate our cities great cultural history,” Cr Reece added.
“For Melbourne and the CBD, festivals and events are going to be more important than ever. That’s why in the recent City of Melbourne Budget we increased our funding support for city events. Bill and Jorge have some big plans and big names coming to Melbourne for the Antipodes Festival and we want to get behind that.
“On a personal level, I really appreciate all the work the Centre does for the Greek community across Melbourne. My daughters love learning Greek and to hear the language being spoken in our family home is very special. Thank you so much.”
Mr Papastergiadis and Mr Menidis presented Cr Reece with a copy of the Greek Community’s recently published history and thanked him for taking time to visit the Centre.
Mr Papastergiadis said: “We have a great relationship with the City of Melbourne thanks in no small part to its excellent public officials such as our dear friend Cr Nicholas Reece. We share in his vision of a wonderful multicultural Melbourne and look forward to doing our small part in helping keep the city the vibrant, exciting epicentre that it has become.”
