The trajectory of
the history of the
GeorgeHotel, from grandeur to dilapidation and back
again, is said to reflect the fortunes of St Kilda
itself.While the current building was
constructed in stages between 1880 and 1930, the Terminus Hotel, as it was
known until 1868, was built in 1857 to cater to the passengers travelling from
Melbourne to the newly opened St Kilda
railway line terminus opposite. Architect Robert Risby
Cowl called for tenders for additions in 1873 and for sash frames and a
staircase in 1874.In a business where the turnover of licensees is often rapid,
the George appears as an anomaly remaining within one family for much of its
life. Frederick Wimpole was its proprietor and publican from 1874, while his
son Frederick, took over from the 1900s to the 1950s.
During this period, the hotel underwent
several physical renovations. The corner section, designed by Harry B Gibbs, is
a large and ornate example of Boom-style Italianate architecture. By 1930
successive additions created a 169-room hotel, which rendered it one of the
largest and most well known hotels in Victoria, and certainly the largest in Melbourne outside the city.The rear wing contains the large dining room,
now known as the highly decorated and richly historical Ballroom.During the 1930s, it was a favoured wedding
venue for fashionable brides.Even
during the war years when other hotels were suffering the after-effects of the
Depression, the George’s very proper reputation seemed untarnished.Yet, like post-war St Kilda
itself, more a centre for cheap housing than a tourist resort, the George could
not retain its classy image.The George, renamed the
Seaview in 1976, became the centre of Melbourne's alternative and punk music scenes.With the burgeoning popularity of punk and
new wave, the venue, known varyingly as the Wintergarden, Crystal Ballroom, Seaview
Ballroom or Ballroom, played host to up-and-coming local bands, most notably
Nick
Cave and the Birthday Party, but also INXS and
Hunters and Collectors.By 1987,
however, the hotel’s associations with drug dealing and other criminal
behaviour led to a forced closure and de-licensing.In 1991, the hotel was reopened by restaurant
entrepreneur Donlevy Fitzpatrick, whose visionary
redevelopment in 1996-97 contained apartments, with bars, cafes and shops at
ground level, and the ballroom becoming a function room.
