Posts Tagged ‘fire’

Gardenvale railway station house. Image from wikipedia.

The Gardenvale Railway Station’s station house  at Gardenvale station on the Sandringham line was destroyed by a suspicious fire this morning.  The main weatherboard and hipped corrugated iron roofed station building was constructed in 1904.

Rising Sun Hotel, Seddon (from realestateview.com.au)

The Rising Sun Hotel has had its fourth (suspicious) fire in recent months, sadly gutting the heritage listed building to all but a facade.

The disused building sit on the corner of a prime development site at 189-193 Geelong Road has a permit for 34 townhouses.

The Kingsville/Seddon/Footscray hotel is a landmark of the western suburbs of Melbourne and highly visible from the main road overpass.  It is currently listed on the Maribrynong Council’s heritage overlay HO40. Built in the 1920s in typical stripped classical the hotel features prominent signage, main balcony and distinctive corner tower.

What is more alarming than the fire is the fact that the incident has now sparked calls to demolish derelict buildings regardless of whether they are heritage listed or not, setting the scene for the 1970s like trend of mass “demolition by neglect” as there is currently no legislation in Victoria to prevent it.  Just last year demolition by neglect claimed the nearby landmark St George’s Theatre in Yarraville.

Maldon Station from wikipedia (Dan027)

Maldon’s Victorian Heritage listed railway station has been destroyed by fire.

The neo-gothic building  erected 1884-1888 was operated by the Maldon Railway Preservation Society Tourist Railway.

Maldon is located just north west of Melbourne in Alexander Shire between Ballarat and Bendigo.

Information on the fire, possible rebuilding and photos of the damage  can be found on the Victorian Goldfields Heritage Railway website.

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Fire has gutted Il Gambero, an iconic Melbourne restaurant at 215 Lygon Street Carlton.  The restaurant was in a two storey classical styled Victorian terrace in a City of Melbourne heritage overlay set among other Victorian heritage buildings.  Il Gambero was one of the first Italian restaurants to open in Lygon Street in the 1970s, which has since become Melbourne’s “Little Italy” and the first suburb in Melbourne to promote alfresco dining and Italian cafe culture in the 1950s.  It is not known how much of the building, with its ornate cast iron verandah, if any can be salvaged.  However surrounding buildings, which are also part of a picturesque stand of Victorian buildings, were fortunately saved.

A fire broke out this morning at St Kilda’s National Theatre, which is currently undergoing renovations.

Fortunately the 90 year old theatre building escaped unharmed.