Melbourne Venue Stay Gold Forced To Delay Reopening

Plans for Melbourne venue Stay Gold to reopen this week following weather-inflicted structural damage have been delayed, owners have revealed.

The venue was initially closed late last month after wild winds resulted in “six metres of parapet wall” falling from the building and striking an awning. Thankfully, no major injuries were reported, though a pedestrian suffered minor injuries that did not require hospitalisation.

Following the incident, it was announced that Stay Gold and its neighbouring pizza bar, Ollie’s Pizza Parlour, would remain closed as “engineers, surveyors, and our landlord assess the situation and make sure it’s 100% safe for everyone to return.”

An update shared soon after the incident saw owners reveal that despite works to remove the damaged parapets, the “building is still not cleared for reopening,” and that its reopening date had been shifted until July 17th.

However, a further update shared this week has revealed that date has now been nixed, with the potential reopening now being shifted forward by a week to July 24th.

“This is heartbreaking for the team at Stay Gold and Ollies, including our ecosystem of bartenders, chefs, bookers, sound techs, security staff, bands, promoters and many many more,” a post shared to Instagram reads.

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A post shared by Stay Gold Melbourne (@staygoldmelbourne)

“Both council and builders believe that next Thursday is a realistic reopening date. For ticket holders to shows or events this weekend please keep an eye on your inbox as we will be in contact soon as we work through this with bands and promoters.

“We are incredibly sorry and deeply frustrated,” the post concluded. “Whilst completely out of our control, we apologise to our guests, team, promoters and bands for the uncertainty of this ongoing closure and appreciate everyone’s understanding and patience.”

Events affected by this continued closure include a night celebrating Lorde in the wake of the recently-released Virgin album.

Stay Gold became a part of Melbourne’s energetic music scene in late 2018 and took over the space formerly known as The Phoenix, with a brand-new band room and indoor and outdoor licensed areas.

It launched thanks to the work of the group behind successful Brisbane venues such as The Brightside, Blackbear Lodge, Blutes Bar and Barbara, as well as the 2018 Good Things Festival.

Group Director Jesse Barbera said at the time, “When the opportunity came up to transform The Phoenix, we took it immediately. Brunswick and greater Melbourne generally is one of the most supportive music communities in the world, and we’re very excited to join it.

“Our goal is to provide great shows, parties and events for that community on a weekly basis.”