Lord Mayor says Corkman pub must be rebuilt properly

CARLTON’S demolished Corkman pub should be rebuilt using original materials but it doesn’t necessarily have to be a pub, says the Lord Mayor.

The former Corkman Irish pub in Carlton.

CARLTON’S demolished Corkman pub should be rebuilt using original materials but it doesn’t necessarily have to be a pub, says the Lord Mayor.

Cr Robert Doyle lashed out at the “cowboy” developers who flattened the 159-year-old building, saying it was a wilful act of demolition.

“I can’t think of anywhere where that has happened, it’s pretty much cowboy,” he said.

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Developers Stefce Kutlesovski and Raman Shaqiri have agreed to rebuild the pub, but only after Planning Minister Richard Wynne this week launched legal action in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

In a letter to Mr Wynne, the pair apologised for knocking down the building and indicated they would secure an operator to run a hotel there when it was rebuilt.

Cr Doyle welcomed the move and urged the developers to re-use as much original material as possible, especially for the exterior.

The site where the historic Corkman pub once sat.

“I want the facade of the pub back but it might not be a pub,” he said.

“I’m not against there being some hospitality use at the front and maybe a modest development at the back.”

“I’m relaxed about that, but what got up my nose was heritage demolition.”

The Lord Mayor said another option for the site was as an education centre, but he rejected calls for it to be returned as open public space.

“It shouldn’t be open space because it’s next to University Square and we’re about to spend $9 million on the square to make it a great space,” he said. Asked if he trusted the ­developers to rebuild, Cr Doyle said: “We’ve had actions and we’ve had words. I’d need to see actions again, not just words.”

Originally called the Carlton Inn, the pub did not have a heritage listing but was subject to a heritage overlay.

The developers, understood to have assets in the tens of millions of dollars, paid $4.7 million for the pub last year. They have been fined $20,000 by the Environment Protection Authority over the demolition.