NO sections of the Mount Buffalo Chalet will be demolished under a plan approved by the Victorian Environment Minister.
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Lisa Neville has flagged several measures to boost the chalet and surrounding national park after meeting North East representatives in Melbourne on Wednesday.
There will be $2.8 million spent on the chalet with weatherboards, wall and window frames to be replaced and painted.
The floor in the main section will be restumped, garden and public approaches will be upgraded and loose stonework on the building's base will be rest and water supply line replaced.
A further $1.5 million will be spent on The Gorge visitor area with the lookout to be upgraded, the installation of a food and beverage area, updated signage and a better toilet supply.
The $4.3 million in spending follows $1.3 million having already been accounted for in maintenance costs.
The newly proposed works are expected to start before next winter.
They did not include a cafe in the chalet which had been supported by Alpine Council and Ovens Valley MLA Tim McCurdy.
He said he was pleased the chalet had been saved from demolition, but was disappointed the cafe was not approved after the council had gauged interested from eatery operators.
"It's just a long way short of where we could have been," Mr McCurdy said, pointing out $7.5 million had originally been allocated.
The chairman of Community Action for the Chalet, David Jacobson, who met the minister along with Mr McCurdy and Alpine Shire mayor Ron Janas, said the cafe was rejected because there would not be adequate heating to support it and there would have been condensation problems.
He welcomed the decision not to flatten any buildings after the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning proposed cutting accommodation from 98 to 28 rooms and lopping the kitchen off the dining room.
"We are proud to say that there will be no demolition of the chalet and this keeps open the option of future development," Mr Jacobson said.
"The minister is sensibly backtracking, she accepts it was deteriorating and the community will not stand for it being lost."
A Mount Buffalo Advisory Group is being formed to canvass future options of the chalet with representatives from Alpine Shire, Community Action for the Chalet, Tourism North East, Parks Victoria and the department.
Mr McCurdy hopes the group is taken seriously and its members not seen as puppets by the government.
Mr Jacobson said crowd-sourcing would be one option explored to fund a reopening of the chalet.
