THOUSANDS of people pass by Jack's Magazine every day, but most of them don't know it's there - which is exactly what architect William Wordell had in mind when he designed the largest powder magazine ever built in Victoria.

Nestled in a valley at the base of Gordon Street, Jack's Magazine (formerly known as the Footscray or Saltwater Magazine) is a rectangular site surrounded by a three-metre-high bluestone wall.

Inside are two identical, long buildings (known as magazines) that are surrounded and separated by 10-metre-high 'blast mounds'.

As Kevin Snow puts it: "Jack's Magazine was built in the same era as Pentridge Prison, but one was built to keep people out and one was built to keep people in."

Mr Snow has a long history with the area. He was employed by the company that bought the defence land (including Jack's) in the mid-1990s and is now Delfin's operations manager for neighbouring Edgewater estate. He was around when Delfin put out two expressions of interest for developing the 5.5-hectare magazine site for commercial use. "It's fair to say we weren't flooded with interest."

But they were never short of ideas from those lucky enough to have a look inside.

Suggestions put forward include: markets, TAFE/school campus, a native nursery, gallery/arts performance space, and restaurant.

Now it will be up to Parks Victoria. Delfin has organised to build a paved access road to the site that connects to the Pipemakers Park.

Work is expected to begin this month, with the site handed over by mid-year.

When the Mail was granted access last week, many of the buildings looked as though they weren't a day old, let alone 132 years old. The two magazines are built on bluestone foundations with bluestone buttress walls, the rock having been quarried from the site and what is now Highpoint shopping centre.