A historic Melbourne wedding venue spent Saturday morning on fire and Saturday afternoon in triage. The heritage-listed Wattle Park Chalet in Surrey Hills — which was due to host a wedding reception that night — erupted in flames at dawn, the ABC reports, destroying the roof and devastating much of the main hall.
Emergency services were called about 6:32am and arrived to find the building alight; Fire Rescue Victoria crews brought the blaze under control shortly before 8am, but not before fire, smoke and water had done their work. "The area that's been damaged has been approximately 30 per cent of the building," FRV incident controller Callum Donoghue said. Investigators are yet to determine the cause of the fire, which impacted the kitchen and service areas and is being treated as suspicious.
Owner Matthew Forsythe has had the business for just five months. "It's pretty bad, the damage, certainly when you go inside the hall," he said. The venue has operated since 1928 and has hosted thousands of weddings. "This is a tragedy, not just for myself and the bookings I've got, but [for] such a historic building like this to be impacted like this is just horrible to see," Mr Forsythe said. "I hope at some point in the future we look back and this is just a little speed bump in that history."
The wedding nobody told the bride about
Mr Forsythe had about 20 events booked over the coming months — the most urgent of them Saturday night's reception, for which two days of preparation were already done: flowers on the tables, food ready to go. As of Saturday, he was contacting other venues to find a replacement for the 110-odd guests, and had made one deliberate omission. "We actually haven't told the bride, but I'm dealing with the groom and we're trying to find an alternative venue at the moment that will give them their special day," he said. "They'll certainly have a story that they'll have to talk about."
'This building means a lot to me'
For Surrey Hills locals, the chalet is memory as much as venue. A resident named Margaret, who spent much of her childhood there, was in tears at the scene. "I used to spend a lot of my time in the lolly shop … and a lot of time in the kitchen while mum was working; she was a waitress," she said. "So this building means a lot to me … it's sad to see it in this state." She hoped the heritage-listed building could be rebuilt and remain a hub for the community. "It's a vibrant place, so let's hope this doesn't take any of that away."
A building that has been marrying Melburnians for almost a century now waits on two answers: what the fire investigators find, and how quickly the damage — about 30 per cent of the building — can be repaired.
