THE Tudor Hotel hasn’t been renovated since it was first opened in 1940, but the pub’s new owners have plan to bring four-storey building into the 21st century.
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General manager and licencee, Greg Phegan, said work was already underway on the ground level and first floor, while the roof top alfresco area was also due to get a makeover.
“We’ve gutted the back, added a new gaming room and put a TAB in – it’s never had a TAB before,” Mr Phegan said.
“We’re knocking the front bar out next week. The downstairs section will be all open.
“All these walls are getting knocked down and there’ll be an open fireplace in the corner where the kitchen was.
“The restaurant is going up to level one. You can still eat where ever you want, but the kitchen will be upstairs.”
Downstairs there will be two bars, while the function room on level one will be re-purposed as another bar area. A new bar will be installed on the roof top, along with new tables.
Mr Phegan said the new Sydney-based owners didn’t waste anytime getting into it.
“We took over the hotel on September 4 and started renovations on September 5,” he said.
“The back area should be done by this weekend and in another two weeks, probably the first weekend after the Melbourne cup, we’ll hopefully be all done.”
The pub has been a mainstay of Tamworth, first opening in 1858.
“Back then it was called the Exchange Hotel,” Mr Phegan said.
“It closed down in 1938, and when it reopened in 1940 it was called the Tudor Hotel. It hasn’t been touched since.
“For an old pub that hasn’t been touched, it’s in good condition. It’s not falling down. It just need a bit of love, a bit of TLC.”
When the new owners first saw the pub, they thought it would be a “challenge, but with a lot of potential”.
“It wasn’t a pub that you could walk into and it was already done, which makes it hard to change thing, where as this, we could do a lot of changes,” Mr Phegan said.
“It’s always been known for food, but apart from that there was no reason to come here – no TAB facilities, and that front bar is very tiny, once you get 10 people in there it’s pretty cramped.
“We’re trying to make it more family orientated, to get more families and people staying here after they have a meal.”
Jamieson Murphy
Newcastle Herald news director and business reporter. Interested in any and all yarns. Whisper g'day mate to me at jamieson.murphy@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Newcastle Herald news director and business reporter. Interested in any and all yarns. Whisper g'day mate to me at jamieson.murphy@austcommunitymedia.com.au
