The #iceskating girl #neonsign up on a wall in the lobby of the #StKildaTownHall that I went to the launch of last month has quite a history. One of two put up on the 1922 dance hall building on the #UpperEsplanade when it was converted into the #StMoritzIceSkating rink in 1939; It closed and was demolished after a controversial fire in 1982 but local electrician Tom Ingram grabbed the two, and he restored one, which got put up in the hotel built there in 1992, covered over, thought lost for 8 years, uncovered and rescued again in 2005, donated to the St Kilda Historical Society, sat in their basement for 13 years (I remember seeing it there) now she’s here ! Whew.

It was a delightful building, complete with steppy towers, designed Beaver & Purnell, and the 1939 skating rink ceiling was made to look like a night sky, with lights as stars and planets – and an aeroplane ! The hotel was demolished in 2019, replaced by super luxury apartments, which revived the name of St Moritz – which is nice but also odd because it’s a ski resort, not a beach.

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