a lonesome little shop in Flinders St

Theres is a little shop between Flinders St station & Banana Alley.
Its been closed for a few years now.
I went and looked up some records in the State Library and the earliest i can find was in 1930 when it was 3 shops, a tobacconist, a oils & colours paint shop and a bootmaker.
It was rented by the MidCity Newsagency in 1973 and thats when it started its porn history. It was rented from Flinders St station.
Ive seen a few old photos of it from a distance and could see glass windows that mustve been boarded up when it became a porno shop. If you walk towards Flinders St Station from Banana alley there's some steps at the back of the area between it and banana alley.
I worked for MidCity newsagents and occasionally took over there during lunch hour, it was pretty small, had no toilet (the people at the carpark across the road let us use theirs) and the roof leaked during big rainstorms.

It sits there in the middle of nothing and looks like they had plans for more but gave up. 

I wonder was there plans to make a row of shops from there down to Banana Alley?

my history
Many years ago i worked for Mid City Newsagents and I would go around the corner the take over while the old guy who worked there had his lunch. Strangely there was a bucket & mop in the shop even though it had a carpeted floor. the shop was really old and had no toilet, he told me to pop across the road to the car park if i needed to go. But being a porn shop there is the curse of 1 customer in as 1 customer leaves, which leaves you stuck behind the counter for hours. If i could make it across the road i could lock the door, piss in the bucket, then pour some water from the 4 litre bottle he had behind the counter into it. Then you walk out with a mop and the bucket and empty the watered down piss into the gutter. Anyone passing by would think id just mopped the floor 
The guy that worked in there told me that someone had lifted the roof and crawled inside to steal stuff, so that corner of the shop leaked whenever it rained cos the place was so old no one wanted to repair it properly.
I remember hearing that Flinders St wanted them to repair the awning that had fallen apart and disappeared over the years, if you look at the photos you can see the shittyness of the shoe repair awning. It was around that time the old guy who worked in  it decided to retire, the big boss who had kept the place open for years decided to close up. It wasnt making enough to be financially viable any more. The stock was absorbed into his 2 other porno shops and the era of the little shop in Flinders St came to an end, almost.... the shoe repair guy is still there.






heres a list of what was there
1930 - 1931
343 - tobacconist
345 - bootmaker
347 - oils and colours paint shop

1932
343 - tobacconist (misss m.b. dent)
345 - bootmaker (bert shoebridge)
347 - dyer

1933 - 1942
343 - tobacconist (miss a butler)
345 - bootmaker (bert shoebridge)
347 - shell drycleaners

1943
343 - tobacconist (miss a butler)
345 - bootmaker (bert shoebridge)
347 - bancrofts dry cleaners

1944-1945
343 - tobacconist (miss a butler)
345 - bootmaker (bert shoebridge)
347 - vacant

1946

343 - tobacconist (miss a butler)
345 - bootmaker (bert shoebridge)
347 - scientific instrument service

1947 - 1949
343 - tobacconist (l.f. mitchell)
345 - bootmaker (bert shoebridge)
347 - scientific instrument service

1950

343 - tobacconist (l.f. mitchell)
345 - bootmaker (mrs n.l. shoebridge)
347 - scientific instrument service


1951 - 1955

343 - tobacconist (l.f. mitchell)
345 - boot repair (f neufeld)
347 - scientific instrument service


1956 - 1957

343 - tobacconist (l.f. mitchell)
345 - boot repair (f neufeld)
347 - exact instrument service


1958 - 1960

343 - tobacconist (l.f. mitchell)
345 - boot repair (f neufeld)
347 - kew drycleaners

1961

343 - tobacconist (l.f. mitchell)
345 - boot repair (f neufeld)
347 - not available

1962 - 1963

343 - tobacconist (l.f. mitchell)
345 - boot repair (f neufeld)
347 - youth unlimited youth training

1964 - 1965

343 - tobacconist (l.f. mitchell)
345 - boot repair (f neufeld)
347 - astor cycles 

1966
343 - tobacconist (l.f. mitchell)
345 - boot repair (f neufeld)
347 - melbourne transistor radio service / radio rental

1967 - 1969

343 - tobacconist (l.f. mitchell)
345 - boot repair (f neufeld)
347 - radio repairs & distribution (kip anderson)

1970

343 - tobacconist (l.f. mitchell)
345 - not available
347 - radio repairs & distribution (kip anderson)

1971

343 - tobacconist (l.f. mitchell)
345 & 347 - west end fashion shop

1972

343 - tobacconist (charlton)
345 & 347 - not available

1973

343 - tobacconist (l.f. mitchell)
345 & 347 - MidCity Newsagency

a couple of ads from march 1973 in The Truth

the shoe repair side, with old door and boarded up window

the other side, another boarded up & secured window

what behind it? a mess, the shitty roof covered in branches & more junk 

whats the thing behind it? 

check out the old age sign on the front of the shops

 

the 3rd shop entrance step is visible underneath the rotting boarded up area on the right





UPDATE:
some photos from the the Walking Melbourne Forums (Melbourne & Australian Architecture Topics)
big thanks to the people who found them (J.V.D.A & WONGM)

from above, the roof covered in branches from the trees behind it

old photo, probably early 40s due to navy guys on the station & the street out front
the shops looks so clean and tidy, and you can make out its 3 shops pretty easily