BRANCH REPORTS
IHEA VIC/TAS REPORT ON POSTPONED END OF YEAR LUNCHEON
As our original end of year Luncheon was to be held at Cargo in the Docklands late November this had to be cancelled due to COVID-19, the Vic/Tas branch decided to reorganise this for early February and as it just happened I had been privileged to have a back of house tour of the recently renovated famous and historic Esplanade Hotel on St Kilda‘s upper promenade. The Esplanade Hotel, commonly known locally as “The Espy”, is a grand Victorian hotel in the bayside suburb of St Kilda, in the city of Melbourne, Victoria. First built in 1878, it overlooks Port Phillip from the Upper Esplanade, and is one of the oldest and grandest hotels in the city. Famed for its long history of live music, it was the subject of long community battles to maintain this heritage in the late 1990s. The hotel was built in 1878 and remains one of the earliest, largest and most prominent 19th-century resort hotels in Victoria. Originally intended to be three large terraces, the building was altered to become a hotel during construction, and became one of the premier hotels in Melbourne outside the city. The Esplanade Hotel provided rooms overlooking Port Phillip Bay, at a time when St Kilda was both a suburb of the wealthy, and
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the preferred place to partake of the waters in one of the many sea-bath establishments for both Melburnians and visitors. The Esplanade Hotel was the home of wealthy philanthropist and National Gallery of Victoria benefactor Alfred Felton from 1892 until his death in 1904. The hotel also hosted many famous visitors, including Mark Twain in the 1880s, and actress Sarah Bernhardt in 1920. A large dining room (later known as the Gershwin Room) in the rear wing was redecorated in Art Nouveau style in c1910. In May 2017, The Espy was sold yet again, to Melbourne-based hospitality group Sand Hill Road, who have operated and redeveloped licensed venues since 2000. After an extensive $15 Million makeover renovation, a transformed Espy reopened in November 2018, with three live music or performance stages, numerous bars and restaurants, finally renovating and reusing all four floors, and the basement. The Esplanade Hotel is reputed to be the longest continuously running live music venue in Australia. In May 1995, Paul Kelly recorded tracks for his album, Live at the Continental and the Esplanade (1996), in the hotel›s Gershwin Room. Since 2005, the SBS music quiz show RocKwiz has been filmed in the same room. Show host Julia Zemiro used to work at the hotel as a waitress.
