Owners to rebuild Southern Ocean Lodge, destroyed in Kangaroo Island bushfires
Though the staff and their village were lucky to survive the fire, everything else “disappeared off the face of the planet”, said the owners of the Southern Ocean Lodge as they plan to rebuild.
SA News
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As with the most humble of seaside shacks destroyed in the Kangaroo Island fires, the state’s most prestigious tourism resort has been reduced to twisted sheets of charred corrugated iron.
While the exterior of the main building of the Southern Ocean Lodge at Hanson Bay remains relatively intact, its interior has been gutted, along with luxury rooms once occupied by wealthy clients from across the globe.
The rooms – which cost between $2000 and $4800 a night per person – commanded floor to ceiling views of wild open water fringed by a pristine white sanded beach.
A wooden boardwalk used by guests to reach the beach from cliffs on which the exclusive resort is perched has been reduced to nothing but metal screws which held it in place. The $20 million complex – viewed by The Advertiser on Tuesday from nearby dunes covered in blackened scrub – has been destroyed, with demolition the only immediate option. Co-owners James and Hayley Baillie have vowed to rebuild the lodge in the same location with the same design but they expect the process to take more than two years.
Ms Baillie believes insurance premiums will be one of the biggest hurdles for fire-affected tourism businesses going forward.
“It is a real concern and I think that it can be threatening to people even making a decision about whether to rebuild or not,” she said. “We’ve seen it in North Queensland with insurance premiums after cyclone damage and that will be the fear now (for) tourism businesses that have been affected by bushfire.”
The award-winning lodge was among numerous structures completely destroyed around Hanson Bay on the western end of Kangaroo Island last Friday as bushfires ravaged nearly half of Kangaroo Island.
Staff members survived by staying in an underground bunker while the fire wreaked havoc above them.
Fortunately, the staff village remained untouched, but Ms Baillie said everything else “disappeared off the face of the planet”. “We put our heart and souls into this creation,” she said. “Even though it’s a building, it feels so much more than that.”
Her husband toured the complex on Monday with its original designer, renowned Adelaide architect Max Pritchard. Mr Pritchard, who will be involved in the rebuild, said it was “gut-wrenching” to see the damage, but it was worse seeing animals that have died on the island.
He confirmed the new building will have the same design with a few minor tweaks to bolster bushfire protection.
“It (the design) really did work exceptionally well. It’s internationally recognised as one of the best in the world,” he said.
Ms Baillie, the daughter of millionaire businessman Dick Smith, said the original design “stood the test of time”, attracting visitors from all over the world. She hopes tourists will still travel to Kangaroo Island, as much of it remained open.
