January 30, 2020

Painted bollards by Jan Mitchell along the Geelong waterfront precinct

Lifesavers with a twist

Travel about 90 minutes outside of Melbourne’s CBD and you’ll find some of Geelong’s most popular celebrities. Even better is that you won’t ever struggle to snag a few snaps of them either, because… well they’re not really going anywhere. Yes, the Baywalk Bollards are a Geelong institution and showcases more than 100 huge, varied icons.

Constructed by Australian artist Jan Mitchell out of old timbers and piles from a city pier that was demolished in the 1980s into 48 sites, each bollard tells a distinctly unique tale. There’s Ian MacDonald – Geelong’s city surveyor who produced plans of the Eastern Beach complex, the Koori Hunter – representing the Wathuarong people of the area, and a 1940’s tram conductress – indicative of when trams ran in Geelong from 1912 to 1956.

The bollards you see today are part of the Town Baths Swimmers Club – a progression of lifesavers designed to highlight the changing style of men’s swimming trunks. Which one bollard will be your favourite?