Victoria's historical Mount Buffalo Chalet remains dormant after the latest attempt to partially reopen the mammoth building failed.
Built in 1910, the grand old dame of the alps was a popular holiday destination throughout the 20th century. However, its doors shut to the public in 2007.
Now, plans to establish a cafe at the chalet have failed for a second time.
Chair of Community Action for the Chalet, and member of the Mount Buffalo Destination Advisory Group and Mount Buffalo Business Assessment Task Force, David Jacobson, said he was disappointed.
"It simply won't survive into the future if it's not occupied," he said.
Mr Jacobson said the building was "arguably the largest and most cherished heritage building, in the grandest, wildest and most spectacular national park in all of Australia".
Parks Victoria executive director of visitor experience Lisa Patroni said, "unfortunately, none of the applications" met the full expression of interest assessment.
"Parks Victoria will continue working with Regional Development Victoria to reactivate the chalet through a future EOI [expression of interest] process," she said.
No applications were received during a similar process launched in November 2020.
It's not known how many submissions were received by Parks Victoria this time.
Mr Jacobson said the chalet had been closed for so long that there was "not a child of 16 years or younger that's ever had the joy of visiting the inside of the building".
He said the chalet was "in reasonably good shape" considering its ongoing closure to the public.
Mr Jacobson said since 2015, Parks Victoria had done a lot of work on the ground to maintain the building.
But the chalet could only be saved if it was occupied, ventilated, heated and used, he said.
An iconic building with big potential
Alpine Shire Council Mayor John Forsyth said the latest attempt to attract a cafe operator to the site, which continues to attract visitors despite the chalet being closed, was "either a failure of the system or a failure of the EOI process".
"It is, has been, and will remain, iconic," he said.
"Unless it becomes so dilapidated it has to be taken down."
A kiosk operating out of the building for day trippers and campers at the nearby Lake Catani campground would be a good short-term step, Cr Forsyth said.
But re-establishing accommodation at the chalet would need to be a longer-term goal.
"In this day and age, we're losing some of these iconic buildings because of lack of use," Cr Forsyth said.
