Prahran’s Station Hotel pub transformed into doctor’s clinic
Did you know one of Melbourne’s oldest churches is now a thriving theatre, and another was resurrected as an Irish pub? And an unexpected new business has moved into Prahran’s former Station Hotel. Here’s a list of old-time venues reinvented.
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The iconic Station Hotel in Prahran has joined a growing list of old and historic Melbourne buildings reborn as something entirely new.
Here’s a list of old Melbourne buildings and their new incarnations.
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STATION HOTEL, PRAHRAN
First established in 1904, the Station Hotel became an integral part of the Australian music landscape with rock legends like ACDC, Skyhooks and Cold Chisel taking to the pub’s stage.
Last month, the old hotel re-opened its doors — as a doctor’s clinic.
The ground floor of the pub is now Next Practice, a new medical clinic chain that launched in Sydney last year.
“We want the station hotel to retain its iconic reputation in the community but now with a new purpose,” Owner Jonathon Somers said.
Station’s masonry facade remains the same and the rooms within the practice have been named after the Australian music bands which made the pub famous.
CHAPEL OFF CHAPEL
Chapel Off Chapel is one of Melbourne’s frontier theatres housed in one of Victoria’s oldest churches.
For 119 years, the bluestone building was used as an independent chapel and ceased being used as a church in 1977.
Built in 1858, Chapel Off Chapel retains the church’s original stain glass windows.
Prahran City Council purchased the building in 1980 before it was established as an integrated arts, recreation and tourism centre by Stonnington Council in 1995.
The likes of Coldplay, John Farnham and Shirley Bassey have graced the theatre’s stage.
PINNACLE HOTEL FITZROY
The Pinnacle Hotel in Fitzroy North is iconic for its iconic hexagonal tower, columns, arched windows and acute angled site.
The building was built in 1886 and served as a land office until after Federation when the building became the North Fitzroy Post Office.
After an iteration as an antique shop, it became a pub in the late 90s.
The current owners of the hotel bought it in 2006 and it is now know for its beer garden and outdoor band stage.
In 2015, the site was damaged by fire caused by a clothes dryer but has since reopened.
ARMADALE PICTURE THEATRE
The Armadale Picture Theatre first opened in 1912 as one of the first moving picture theatres in Victoria.
In 1923, theatre employee Charles William Lloyd was found dead by a gunshot wound to the head in the theatre’s office.
Historical records reveal past occupants believed Mr Lloyd’s ghost haunted the men’s lavatories.
The theatre showed films with live orchestral soundtracks until its closure in 1940.
This April, the building will become the latest flagship of luxury design store James Said.
BUSH HOTEL TOORAK
But it’s nice some things never change — The Bush Hotel in Toorak is among a rare bunch operating as watering holes since the 1850s.
Located on Malvern Road, it originally housed a settlers tavern and a teamsters lounge with horse stables.
Perhaps the oldest thing left at the Bush Inn is the typical bluestone-paved lane on its north side, still scored by steel tyres and iron-shod hoofs.
Apparently the hotel was the only source of water in the local area, and people came to fill their buckets up there.
Family members of the first owners are now the names of nearby streets, such as Evelina Road and May Street.
Evelina was the first licensee of the pub, and her and her pet ducks were well known in Toorak.
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