SAFETY improvements and other works have begun at the fire-gutted Guildford Hotel while plans to rebuild its interior are progressing.
Luke Martino, who owns the hotel with his brother Dominic, told the Reporter workers had begun putting a gangway around the building and would soon start removing items from inside.
“We are working with the council to make it safe,” he said.
“Then we can start designing it to be rebuilt.”
Fire ripped through the historic landmark on September 1, 2008. Since then, local residents have expressed concerns that weather would damage the hotel’s remaining structure.
A Save the Guildford Hotel Action Group was formed to establish a link between the community and those involved in its restoration.
Mr Martino said it that would take contractors a few weeks to finish the safety work and “a month or two” to finalise a feasible design.
He said he planned to display designs once they were ready so people could see the ideas, but the design process would have to go through the City of Swan and WA Heritage Council.
“In the latter half of this year, we hope to start turning bricks to see a new one (hotel) go up,” he said.
“We’ve got a lot of people involved and we’re all very excited. We want to do something very special.”