THE BUFFALO CLUB on High Street has suffered a partial ceiling collapse in a tale often told by old building owners in Freo’s West End. 

According to Club committee member Zane Wayman, the Club’s ceiling began to shift thanks to the slowly moving brickwork of the decades-old building, but says it’s not an uncommon occurrence. 

“All of the buildings were cast in big plaster panels, and then they would be pinned to the brickwork, and over time the brickwork for these sorts of old buildings can shift partly,” Mr Wayman said. 

“The building that we have is shifted, like many buildings in Fremantle, because the basements and the foundations end up getting inundated with water yearly. 

“As the building shifted, a section of plaster was detaching around the edges [of the ceiling], and it was on its way to coming down, so we got up there and kicked it down, cut away a whole bunch of plaster, and got spending [about] $4000 to replace that section of ceiling.” 

Mr Wayman assured Buff-goers the live music venue is still perfectly safe to attend, but the old building will require some shoring up to continue its use in the long term.

“Structurally, the plaster work is superficial, even the shifting is superficial, but it can be damaging over time,” Mr Wayman said. 

“Other than fixing the things that have been impacted by a leaky roof or shifting foundations, we need to address the actual roof and foundations eventually. 

“The closest neighbour that we know of who have done a proper job with that is Kakulas Sisters… they’ve managed to create a pumping system with what’s called French drains, which is a system of trenches that sit below some of the slab in the basement and pump away the water that would otherwise have inundated their foundations.” 

According to Mr Wayman, the Club is currently applying for a Revive Live grant, which is awarded by the federal government to limit venue closure and encourage long-term sustainability of live music venues.

by KATHERINE KRAAYVANGER