A blaze at Warrnambool’s Criterion Hotel on February 22nd 2010, extensively damaged the Kepler Street pub and led to 13 and 14-year-olds being charged with arson and burglary offences. The teens were spotted by a crew on its way to the fire after a description had been provided to police.
More than 65 members from Warrnambool and local brigades were called in. Firefighters used ladders to gain access to the top floor and broke open the front door. A specialist fire truck had to travel from Ballarat to help extinguish the blaze inside the historic hotel.
Fire bursts out the top storey windows early in the blaze
(Fire photo and story from the Warrnambool Standard)
It appears to have started at street level, inside the entry off Kepler Street at the base of the stairs. The building has been declared structurally sound by Warrnambool City, the interior is in a dangerous state, The ground floor is mainly smoke and water damaged The top floor is gutted and the accommodation area was severely damaged and the tiled roof destroyed. The whole roof gave in from one end to the other. There is asbestos roofing involved and that will have to be removed.
The Criterion which opened in 1872 closed its doors in January 9, 2008. It had been a well-known venue for live bands Owners of the venue shut the hotel while having talks with Warrnambool City Council for more than two years about its plans for offices, lounge bar and nightclub that had been constrained by heritage concerns over the historic Kepler Street building. Since then vandals had trashed the interior, and trespassers had been a problem on a weekly basis at the pub, which has been vacant for two years.
The owners of the building have since been in discussions with Heritage Victoria about $2 million plans to transform the old pub's interior into a modern, three-level office hub while the heritage-listed facade will be retained. Prior to the blaze, the owners were ready to proceed with the planned redevelopment, having sorted out heritage issues plan to turn the site into office space.
More about Warrnambool's abandoned buildings in next posts
Latest news on the Criterion - While the developers had hoped to construct offices behind the hotel facade, findings show that the walls would be unsafe, so the building must now be demolished within 60 days.
ReplyDeleteit was torn down last week,the site is now vacant
ReplyDelete