C & J Greig wrote: > Paul Blair wrote: >> C & J Greig wrote: >>> Paul Blair wrote: >>>> A bit OT, but the name would help me find some other things. >>>> >>>> Melbourne. Spencer St. Corner of Bourke St. Opposite the old Mail >>>> Centre. >>>> >>>> A pub/tevern. Burned down a few years ago. Block still vacant (I >>>> think). >>>> >>>> And the name was? Glenlyons? >>>> >>>> Paul >>> >>> The Savoy Tavern. >> >> That was its later name, I believe, when the Savoy Plaza took it over. >> But before that...? >> >> Paul > > I found this on a forum at www.walkingmelbourne.com > > Carlyons > Named after a famous hotel family who originated with a retired River > Murray paddle steamer captain who opened a riverside tavern. There were > Carlyon’s hotels at St Kilda, at Hampton and at Ballarat. The first > hotel on the site was The Mechanics’ Hotel in the 1870’s. Incidentally, > it was Norman Carlyon who partnered with Fred Matear to build the Hotel > Australia in Collins Street. > > Later bought by Carlton and United, the three story building was deemed > unprofitable and demolished in 1971. By 1973 CUB had opened the > single-story Savoy Tavern (now there was a drinking hole where the > carpets never dried out) on the site to cater to the large numbers of > postal and railway shift workers in the area. Soon after, however, they > sold it to Federal Pacific Hotels who had bought the neighboring Savoy > Plaza hotel (previously the American-style Hotel Alexander designed by > Leslie M. Perrot) some twenty years previously but who immediately after > purchasing the Tavern sold the hotel to the Victorian Government for use > as the Police Academy. It was the sales of the Savoy and their flagship > Federal hotels that provided capital for Federal Pacific’s Wrest Point > Casino venture. > > The Tavern closed some years ago, and the corner site has recently been > sold for redevelopment. > > Regards, Jeanine Brilliant. Thank you. I think the old place burnt down. The old MMTB HQ was across the lane from it, so they had an extra source of patronage! Cheers Paul