Cockroach-infested Hackney Lodge boarding house to reopen

THE owner of a Hackney boarding house closed because of a massive cockroach infestation says it will reopen soon after a big clean-out.

Hackney Lodge boarding house at the corner of North Tce and Hackney Rd. Source: File

THE owner of a Hackney boarding house closed because of a massive cockroach infestation says it will reopen in two to three months’ time.

Hackney Lodge, at the corner of Hackney Rd and North Tce, closed in September after what the Eastern Health Authority described as “significant cockroach activity throughout multiple areas of the property”.

Owner and manager Rudi Bodonyi, 91, told the Eastern Courier Messenger he had engaged a builder to fix structural issues also identified by the authority after fumigation for the cockroaches late last year.

“They have been eliminated,” Mr Bodonyi said.

“They’ve been terminated — the whole building has been treated.”

He said he was not planning to sell the state heritage-listed building, also known as Romilly House.

The authority’s report, published last month said the cockroach infestation appeared to stem from one room, where Mr Bodonyi said a tenant had been breeding the insects.

“A significant amount of cockroach faeces was covering all surfaces of the walls, floor, ceiling and furnishings inside the room,” the authority’s report said.

The lodge was previously home to about 35 tenants, who paid about $200 per week.