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September 2005
St Moritz - The Skating Lady
In 2005 Novotel St Kilda announced its donation to the St Kilda Historical Society of the neon female skater sign that once graced the roof of the St Moritz ice rink.
St Moritz ice rink operated from 1939 to 1981. It was one of the great social hubs of St Kilda and Melbourne and is fondly remembered by thousands of visitors and residents who arrived on the Esplanade to be greeted by the glowing female skating sign.
The original building on the site of The Novotel St Kilda opened in 1923 as The Wattle Path Dance Saloon and Café. Theatrical entrepreneur F.W. Thring acquired the property in 1933 and transformed the building into one of the largest film studios in Australia under the name Efftee Productions. The film business proved too uncertain and the studio only lasted a couple of years before Mr Thring returned the site to its original theme, renaming the building ‘Streets of Paris.’ Once again Mr Thring found business tough and The ‘Streets of Paris’ closed in the late 1930s to be re-opened in March of 1939 as the St Moritz ice rink. The rink could accommodate more than 2000 people, had more than 1850 square metres of ice and was enormously popular during the war years.
From the early 1950s the rink was starting to show its age with poor ventilation and damp causing the structure to rot. The youth of the era were gradually turning to other forms of entertainment but it was the advent of the disco, which finally sounded its death knell. The skating rink continued operating until 1981 when poor trading finally forced its closure. In the mid eighties a fire ripped through the old building rendering it derelict. The site remained vacant after until its eventual development as a hotel, opening in 1991 with the name St Moritz. It then became Novotel Bayside in 1993 and more recently The Novotel St Kilda in 1999.
Novotel St Kilda has decorated its bar in a similar theme to the old venue’s original bar, even calling it ‘The St Moritz Bar.’ The neon female skater sign once graced the roof of the St Moritz ice rink all those years ago and in recent times has been a feature in the hotels’s restaurant, The St Moritz Brasserie.
She was rescued from the original damaged building by member of the St Kilda Historical Society local amateur historian, Tom Ingram, and sat in his back yard for many years. When the St Moritz Hotel was being built Tom approached the owners and she was mounted on the wall of the restaurant in the new hotel to continue a link with the past. It wasn’t long before she was covered over with wood panelling, behind which she remained hidden for eight years and eventually forgotten. A chance conversation between Tom and one of the hotel staff brought her story to light. She was uncovered and graced the site for many years once again. Now the restaurant design has changed and the hotel wants to make sure this piece of St Kilda’s history is not lost. So it is with great pleasure that the sign is donated to the St Kilda historical society.
The neon skating lady is 1530 W X 1780 H X 200 D, still operates, and is enclosed in a clear box. The light still functions with an attached transformer.
The sign was loaned for two years for exhibition in the new City Museum (formerly the Gold Museum at Old Treasury), which was formally opened 20 September 2005 with 200 members of the public in attendance. The first persons to ever enter the new City museum were SKHS members.
Note: A fuller history of St Moritz is available from 'The History of St Kilda. The Show Goes On' by Anna Longmuir in St Kilda library. SKHS resource files contain a donated folder with original 8X5 black and white photos and documentation.
wrtten by;
September 2005
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