Pubs and club forced to shut down due to coronavirus
Pubs, clubs and concert venues around the state are closing their doors. The publican of beloved live music venue the Grace Emily Hotel says no one can be certain when or if they will reopen.
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An iconic Adelaide live music venue which has hosted legendary musicians like Ben Folds and Tim Rogers is among pubs and clubs around the state close their doors.
The front windows of the Grace Emily Hotel were shuttered on Sunday after a week of gig cancellations left the venue’s short term future looking grim.
Publican Symon Jarowyj told The Advertiser that the new social distancing measures put in force to slow the spread of the coronavirus had left space for about 10 people in the pub’s front bar.
Last night, the Federal Government ordered all pubs, clubs, gyms, cinemas and places of worship will be shut from midday on Monday, while restaurants and cafes will have to switch to takeaway only.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the restrictions after a national cabinet meeting.
The number of cases in Australia has risen sharply in recent days, reaching 1315.
“It all happened very quickly, everyone started cancelling their shows in the last week and this place without gigs really has no business,” Mr Jarowyj said.
“We have been chatting to our landlords for the last week, they have no obligation to the pay their loan on the building for six months thanks to a freeze on the loan and they passed that on to us. As soon as we heard that it was a bit of a no-brainer.
“We are re-evaluating every day at the moment, who knows what is going on.”
But just as they were extending a helping, hand Mr Jarowyj is also reaching out to some regulars who have been hit hard by the global pandemic.
“We’ve got some regulars who have lost their jobs because they were casuals, so we are going to board up the pub and have upstairs open for them to stay,” he said.
“So we should get three or four people up there, so they can stay for free.”
Since 1998 the Grace Emily has been hosting local and international artists in an intimate setting.
The coronavirus pandemic has hit the events and live music industry hard with multiple concerts and festivals cancelled, taking with them thousands of casual catering, hospitality and labouring jobs.