News / Food & Drink
David returns to pride of place at Moreland Hotel
The statue has been retained after a $5.9 million makeover
Mark Phillips
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You can’t keep a good man down.
The Moreland Hotel’s imitation of Michelangelo’s statue of David has avoided the scrap heap and is set to make a triumphant return as the centrepiece of a $5.9 million renovation in coming weeks.
Currently occupying a nook in the hotel’s public bar that was his resting place during the major renovation, David will be relocated soon to the pub’s new indoor beer garden where he will resume watching over diners with the same imperious disregard as before.
The hotel has now fully re-opened following the renovation that took almost 12 months to complete.
Gone is the ancient Rome influenced old dining room. In its place is what the pub’s owners describe as “an industrial garden”.
The space had a soft opening last weekend ahead of a full re-introduction to the public next weekend.
The pub’s owners, hospitality giant ALH Hotels, first flagged plans to renovate the dining room almost four years ago.
Venue manager Michael Taylor said there was never any doubt that David would have a place in the revamp. The question was where and in what role.
Flanked by faux marble pillars, the polystyrene and plastic statue occupied pride of place in the ancient Rome inspired former dining room for more than two decades until renovations began in July last year.
In the end, Taylor’s preference prevailed over that of the project’s architects.
“There was a lot of argument about what should happen to David, and some wild ideas were thrown out there,” Taylor said.
He said one proposal had been to break the statue up into pieces which would be strategically hidden around the venue in kind of treasure hunt. Another idea, which Taylor adamantly opposed, was to paint the statue neon pink and cover it with graffiti in a nod to modern Brunswick.
“We talked them into keeping him as he is,” Taylor said.
Brunswick West resident Hannah Garvan, who in 2022 launched a petition to save the old bistro, said she was pleased the David statue had not been destroyed but she would have preferred for it to have been donated to a local community group so more people could see it.
“I’m glad it didn’t end up at the tip, but I think it’s definitely lost its glory since being in the iconic bistro,” she said. 
Above: venue manager Michael Taylor in the indoor beer garden that has replaced the old dining room.
Taylor, who was recruited at the start of the project, said the makeover had been necessary to revive the pub’s fortunes.
“It was dated and it was very gimmicky,” he said.
“In the ‘90s, when they first built it, they had a vision for it that they wanted a touch of [Las] Vegas in Melbourne with a Caesar’s Palace look, but it had become a bit neglected and when you walked in you would go ‘why have I walked into downtown ancient Rome?’
“It became a gimmick and people would just come in to take a photo of David and then walk out the door again.”
The top-to-bottom transformation of the hotel was led by BSPN Architecture and Five One Group, and centres on a light-filled indoor beer garden where the dining room once was. The arched roof has been retained as a massive skylight above an all-weather “industrial garden”.
The rest of the hotel has been softened with natural materials, cobblestone-style flooring, and large-scale indoor trees.
Also new is a dog-friendly external beer garden fronting Sydney Road, which ALH says sets it apart from every other pub on the strip.
Only the public bar on the corner of Moreland and Sydney Roads and the gaming room remained open while the renovation was underway. Both rooms underwent their own refurbishment a couple of years ago.
The exterior of the pub has also been repainted and signage now celebrates its history which goes back to 1884.
The Moreland Hotel was built in 1889-90 by a Brunswick Mayor, Donald Fraser. Originally three-storeys, it was rebuilt as a double storey premises in 1913, and renovated again in 1934 and the mid-1970s.
Taylor, who is a veteran of Brunswick’s bar scene including stints at The Penny Black and Welcome to Brunswick, said the redesign aimed to bring in a new clientele.
“Brunswick’s demographics have changed significantly over the last 20 years and we’re focussing on younger families,” he said.
“We’re getting a lot of great feedback about the space and people like that we’ve modernised it.”
He has also been busy hiring new staff with 25 people working in the kitchen and 18 bar and floor staff.
To celebrate the re-opening, the Moreland Hotel will host an open-invite community launch weekend next Saturday and Sunday, June 27 and 28. Activities on Saturday will include live music, flash tattoos, and an e-bike raffle supporting Brunswick Neighbourhood House. On Sunday, doors will open at 12pm for games, roaming entertainment, free ice cream and other giveaways.
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