83 Dundas Place, corner Montague Street, Albert Park
MEL: 2K B6
The original Albert Park Hotel, c.1884
Thomas and
Margaret Walsh opened the Albert Park Hotel in 1883 after they had spent many
years at the Wexford Arms in Park Street. According to advertisements of the
era, the couple were confident that ‘Private Families, or Single Gentlemen who
may desire a residence near the City, will find the accommodation in every way
satisfactory’.
The Albert
Park is a nineteenth century Victorian building renovated during the 1930s in
the current modernist style. The result is polite and felicitous, fitting into
the streetscape well and holding a serene urbane elegance of its own.This three-storey version is especially
powerful, beginning with its round porthole windows expressing some of the
force of a great ocean liner.
Recent renovations have attempted to bring forth the features and
atmosphere from the 1930s (recently covered in the 1980s) and to amplify
them.The delicacy and inventiveness of
the iron window grilles for example is so much more interesting to the
pedestrian than the coarse abstract features of many current commercial
buildings.Painted white, the building
has strong sculptural presence.
Albert Park Hotel, 1981
The hotel has a strong history as a
family hotel.In recent years, the
primary function of the venue has been a reflection of its name, ‘The Albert
Park Hotel’, serving the public as a bar.The renovations of this historic venue reflect a change in atmosphere
and function of the space.The new title
of ‘The Albert Park’ demonstrates a broader service to the public and local
residents.
Recent renovations have attempted to bring forth the features and
atmosphere from the 1930s (recently covered in the 1980s) and to amplify
them.
