Posts Tagged ‘arson’

Arsonists set fire to the local landmark St Catherine’s Greek Orthodox Church in East Malvern overnight.

Firefighters managed to save the National Trust listed St Catherine’s Church, but the hall was apparently destroyed.  The church, built between 1921-1924 is sited near Caulfield railway station in Epping Street, a street notable for its leafy aspect and Edwardian character. The building, designed by North & Williams only recently underwent an expensive restoration to complete its towers is notable for its intricate window tracery designs.

While this attack may have been motivated by other reasons than a dislike for heritage and architecture, the area is fast losing its Edwardian and Interwar character, since recent overdevelopment and the demolition of several local landmarks including the nearby Turf Club Hotel and the ongoing expansion of Monash University’s Caulfield campus.

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Marylands Country House in 1950. The building was completely destroyed in the 2009 Marysville fires

In a sad day for Victoria in which many lives have been lost to bushfires.

The fires have virtually wiped out the picturesque towns of Marysville and Kinglake and some continue to burn, threatening towns across Victoria.

My thoughts go out to the victims, the survivors, families and communities of this terrible tragedy.

And like the Ash Wednesday fires, these disasters have a massive toll on heritage as well.   Some historic homes will no doubt have been lost.  Many of these homes lived to tell the story of and carried with them the memories and tragedies of previous bushfires.

Some landmark buildings too are now gone forever, including the Tudor Lodge, a distinctive  landmark mock tudor motel/ser

Tudor Lodge Motel - a well known landmark now gone

vice station in the bush on the drive north east of Melbourne known to many Victorians.   This building will be sadly missed.  Some churches are also now gone.  The heritage listed Marylands Country House, a large boutique tudor style 1920s bungalow hotel at 22 Falls Rd was also completely destroyed.

Let us hope that the remaining fires can be contained and more lives can be saved, as well as their homes and buildings to leave a legacy for them and also future generations.