The National Trust's webpage begins with "Imagine if you could stand at the corner of Bourke and Exhibition Streets and see the Southern Cross Hotel as it was when the Beatles stayed there" then it goes on to tell you how you can view the hotel on
'Lost! 100 lost buildings of Melbourne' the Trust's iPhone app.
In a period of mass destruction, from the 1950s to the early 1970s, historic buildings in Melbourne's CBD were being bulldozed at an appalling rate. At the time, such buildings were seen as useless relics, developers were going to erect better, more modern, utilitarian buildings in their place. But times change, and now we look back with regret at some of those decisions.
Lost is a dynamic app that uses augmented reality to allow users a 3D understanding of some of Melbourne's most amazing lost and hidden heritage buildings. The interactive app enables users to "ghost" - visually overlay buildings from the past onto the present. At all 100 sites, the app superimposes images of demolished buildings over what is now at the location, by augmenting the iPhone's existing camera function. The app has links to Facebook and Twitter so users can upload their images, stories or comments about the sites.
A history, photos and stories of these often long-demolished buildings is available. You can also view 80 'unlocked' buildings from any location - but uniquely, when you are within metres of a further 20 buildings you can access their 'locked' files.
 |
| The Fire Brigade Tower - then and now |
The app gives users an insight into buildings such as the Victorian tea-rooms in the Fitzroy Gardens, the Fish Markets and the Eastern Market (which was replaced by the Southern Cross Hotel).
The
Fire Brigade Tower at the rear of 447 Little Bourke Street, built in 1882, was a 6-storey lookout tower of Melbourne's first fire station. It had an uninterrupted view of the whole of the city. The United Insurance Companies' fire brigade building was then used by the Metropolitan Fire Brigade until 1918.
In 1959 the National Trust selected it as one of Victoria's most significant buildings, despite this the unused building was demolished in 1961, to make way for a carpark for the London Assurance Company - what an improvement.
 |
| The Buck's Head Hotel development |
The
Buck's Head Hotel at 290 Little Lonsdale Street opened on 1st July 1848. The large building was built of brick and bluestone, it contained the bar, dining room, 4 sitting rooms, 6 guest bedrooms, and accommodation for the landlord and his family. The Hotel took up the corner of Sutherland Street (the narrow lane on the left) and Little Lonsdale Street.
After serving drinks for 103 years, the hotel lost its liquor licence and was auctioned in 1951. In 2011 the site was the subject of an archaeological dig, before construction began on a new multi-storey office tower.
The app includes eight buildings still standing, that the Trust deems under threat, including the Queen Victoria Market, the Celtic Club in Queen Street, the Le Louvre boutique, the art deco Palace Theatre in Bourke Street, and the Women's Venereal Disease Clinic.
 |
| The VD Clinic cowering beneath the towering Victoria University |
The
Women's Venereal Disease Clinic, is one of the "Heritage at Risk" buildings. The former home of the clinic was constructed in 1919 at the rear of the Board of Health offices in response to the rapid increase in diagnoses following the end of the Great War. In 2011 the Melbourne City Council nominated the building for heritage protection, but the Planning Minister did not grant the request, and in April 2012 the Victoria University (the owner) proposed to demolish the clinic and neighbouring former tuberculosis clinic to erect a 32 storey high-rise.
 |
| Apparently not at risk - The Department of Forensic Medicine building, next-door to the Clinic |
The
Southern Cross Hotel was opened, live on TV, by then Prime Minister Bob Menzies in August 1962. Situated on Exhibition Street between Bourke and Little Collins Streets, it replaced the grand but by then virtually unused Eastern Market. Built in the 'Featurist' style, the Southern Cross hosted Frank Sinatra, and the Beatles in 1964, as well as the Logies and Brownlow Medal count for years (before Crown was invented). The Hotel closed in 1995, a bid to have it listed by Heritage Victoria failed, and it was demolished in 2003 to make way for an office complex.
 |
| The Beatles at the Southern Cross from Picture Australia |
Currently the app is compatible with the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad, and Lost is free to download. Discover hidden and lost buildings you may not have been aware of at
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/lost!/id511203200?mt=8
