Wreckers move in on iconic pub
One of Melbourne’s most iconic gay pubs is being torn down.
Demolition crews started pulling down the 164-year-old Greyhound Hotel on Thursday.
The demolition works started from the rear of the building.
The tearing down of the popular and well-known hotel, a St Kilda landmark, has come despite the efforts of Port Phillip Council to save it.
The council had pushed for the pub to be heritage protected.
But its fate was sealed last week when state Planning Minister Richard Wynne rejected the application.
The pub was not deemed architecturally significant enough to earn heritage status because of renovations in 1937, which had given it an Art Deco makeover.
The Greyhound was built in 1853.
It had a reputation as a rock pub before it became a popular gay and drag venue.
The tearing down of the Greyhound comes despite an independent report by heritage consultants Context in March which found the hotel to be of historical, cultural and social significance, particularly to the local gay community.
"(It is) one of a few remaining buildings that reflect not only the history of Victorian hotels generally, but more locally chart the changing fortunes of St Kilda," Context said in its report.
"The local and broader Melbourne LGBTIQ community specifically has strong associations with the hotel, valuing it as a home, a venue for entertainment and a place that represents this community's identity."
The pub’s owners are planning to build an eight-storey apartment tower in its place.
The council rejected that planning application.
It said the proposed apartment tower was too high and needed to incorporate part of the existing building.
The refusal was appealed.
The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal will consider the case in June.
Locals have been trying to save the hotel with a change.org petition started by a local business owner, collecting more than 2700 signatures.
by Leon Gettler, May 16th 2017
