On what would have been its tenth birthday, Melbourne live music doyen the Brunswick Hotel has announced it will never reopen.
In the early hours of a Thursday, 22 March 2018, a car collided with and sheared off a fire hydrant outside the popular pub, on the corner of Sydney Road and Weston Street, Brunswick.
The missing hydrant loosed a column of water (video below) that thundered onto the Hotel, damaging the roof and guttering, and security were forced to evacuate the building as water began dripping inside, eventually collapsing ceilings and flooding all levels.
Fundraising efforts were initiated to help staff suddenly out of work, but more than a year later the pub was no closer to opening.
This week proprietor David ‘Frankie’ Cudmore lamented on social media the day would never come.
“Today marks the 10th birthday of the Brunswick Hotel, and while it’s usually a big milestone to celebrate, we’re devastated to confirm that since the famous flooding of March 2018 we will never re-open our doors.”
The operators cite ongoing issues with the freeholder, and the “mental and physical toll” taken. They thanked the pub’s past musicians and devotees for the time had.
“The Brunny would never have been what it was without the community that supports it.”
Unwilling to give up their devotion to burgeoning live music, Frankie and business partner Richard have taken their show down the road, opening new venture The Bergy Seltzer on 3 March.
