ghost tours at the Aradale Asylum in Ararat<\/a>, which it manages, due to safety concerns to do with the asylum\u2019s upkeep.<\/p>\nAnnouncing the closure, ghost tour group Eerie Tours said it had put an \u201cunimaginable amount of time and money\u201d into the attraction, which now \u201cfaces further disrepair\u201d.<\/p>\n
It said it had spent 15 years \u201cfighting to keep the asylum alive\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur 14+ guides, investigators and management have lost their income overnight,\u201d the group wrote online.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are proud to have helped so many put food on their tables. They have families to feed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Ararat accommodation community are bleeding money from cancellations and will continue to suffer as long as the site is closed.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur friends at the service station who fuel both cars and bodies late into the night will notice it too\u201d.<\/p>\n
Ripon state Labor MP Martha Haylett called it a \u201cdevastating blow to Ararat and the wider Grampians region\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have written to Melbourne Polytechnic demanding they reverse this decision and sit down with Eerie Tours to find a pathway for the tours to continue operating into the future,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am deeply disappointed by Melbourne Polytechnic\u2019s management of Aradale.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor years they have ignored my inquiries and failed to recognise the enormous contribution Eerie Tours makes to our local economy, tourism industry and community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Melbourne Polytechnic leases the asylum from the state government and runs a winery from parts of the property.<\/p>\n
Friends of J Ward member Graeme Ferguson, who conducted day tours of the asylum, said it was \u201cvery disappointing\u201d that the historic landmark had \u201cnot been touched since it closed\u201d in 1993.<\/p>\n
About 70 buildings made up the asylum, which operated for 126 years.<\/p>\n
Many of the buildings are inaccessible, with only a handful open to the public for tours.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s understood there may be a review later in the year to determine if they can continue.<\/p>\n
J Ward Museum in Ararat, which is owned by Ararat Rural City Council, is still running as normal.<\/p>\n
The council said it recognised the \u201cheavy toll Aradale\u2019s sudden closure takes on our tour operators, particularly Eerie Tours and Friends of J Ward, and the immediate flow-on impacts on our accommodation and hospitality businesses\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile safety concerns surrounding the site make this a complex issue, the resulting strain on our tourism sector is very real, and we remain fully committed to supporting our local business community.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A major tourism drawcard in a west Victorian town has been suddenly shuttered, jeopardising local businesses and the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":79078,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[120724,96916,120732,120713,120758,120753,4813,120737,120756,120734,120717,120735,58187,48272,120720,120710,120723,120748,120718,120721,120741,63098,120746,2748,6868,120708,120716,120706,18571,120722,120714,120731,120729,120704,120752,2752,10945,260,53889,8937,120707,120726,120743,65963,120728,120705,120745,120739,120742,120733,120740,35860,120730,2587,120711,120747,120749,120709,120750,120712,69867,67818,120744,38131,36541,120738,66695,120719,120757,39248,120755,37118,120727,76523,37551,40686,120725,36993,120736,38650,71542,120751,120715,38749,48117,23600,120703,120754,31772],"class_list":["post-79077","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-melbourne","tag-ripon-state-labor-mp-martha-haylett","tag-s-management","tag-s-sudden-closure","tag-s-tourism","tag-s-upkeep-announcing","tag-126-years-many","tag-15-years","tag-1993-about","tag-70-buildings","tag-a-devastating-blow","tag-a-complex-issue","tag-a-major-tourism-drawcard","tag-a-pathway","tag-a-review","tag-a-west-victorian-town","tag-a-winery","tag-an-unimaginable-amount","tag-aradale","tag-aradale-asylum","tag-ararat","tag-ararat-rural-city-council","tag-blow","tag-both-cars-and-bodies","tag-cancellations","tag-community","tag-day-tours","tag-eerie-tours","tag-eerie-tours-and-friends","tag-families","tag-further-disrepair","tag-ghost-tour-group-eerie-tours","tag-ghost-tours","tag-investigators-and","tag-j-ward","tag-j-ward-member-graeme-ferguson","tag-local-businesses","tag-management","tag-melbourne","tag-melbourne-polytechnic","tag-money","tag-more-than-a-dozen-workers","tag-my-inquiries","tag-normal-the-council","tag-only-a-handful","tag-our-14-guides","tag-our-accommodation-and-hospitality-businesses","tag-our-friends","tag-our-local-business-community","tag-our-local-economy","tag-our-tour-operators","tag-our-tourism-sector","tag-parts","tag-regional-tourism-drawcard","tag-safety-concerns","tag-so-many-put-food","tag-the-heavy-toll","tag-the-aradale-asylum","tag-the-ararat-accommodation-community","tag-the-asylum","tag-the-attraction","tag-the-buildings","tag-the-closure","tag-the-enormous-contribution","tag-the-future","tag-the-group","tag-the-historic-landmark","tag-the-historic-site","tag-the-immediate-flow-on-impacts","tag-the-livelihoods","tag-the-night","tag-the-property-friends","tag-the-public","tag-the-resulting-strain","tag-the-service-station","tag-the-site","tag-the-state-government","tag-the-tours","tag-the-town","tag-the-wider-grampians-region","tag-the-year","tag-their-income","tag-their-incomes","tag-their-tables","tag-this-decision","tag-time-and-money","tag-tourism-industry","tag-tours-it","tag-ward-museum","tag-years"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79077","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79077"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79077\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}