Clare Valley icon Martindale Hall to close and may be sold

THE operators of historic Martindale Hall will close the tourism drawcard after being ordered out while the State Government considers selling the venue.

HISTORIC Martindale Hall at Mintaro in the Clare Valley will close at the end of the month after the operators were ordered out.

The State Government has indicated the Hall may be sold to cover government debts.

The leaseholders of 14 years, who asked not to be named, have put in a tender to continue operating the venue with a 30-year plan they say would increase revenue to the State Government. Expressions of interest in the lease opened at the start of the year.

Despite being under the impression they were well placed to win the tender, the current operators have been told to vacate the premises, which will shut on November 30.

The hall is open for tours by day as a museum, welcomes guests to stay overnight, hosts about six weddings a year and does a brisk trade in “murder mystery” nights.

The operators said their treatment had been “pretty shoddy” and were unsure what the future held for the hall.

The Georgian-style mansion completed in 1880 on 18ha featured in the landmark Australian movie Picnic at Hanging Rock. It was built for pastoralist Edmund Bowman Jr, and later sold to William Tennant Mortlock.

His heirs, John and Dorothy Mortlock, bequeathed Martindale Hall and the estate to the University of Adelaide and gave the State Library a $1.8 million bequest – the Mortlock Wing of the Library is named in their honour.

Conservation Minister Ian Hunter told State Parliament an announcement would be made on the hall’s future “at some future stage”.

“I understand that the current lease owners of the business at Martindale Hall will no longer be continuing in that position,” Mr Hunter said.

“That is my understanding. I have asked the department to investigate future options for either the business continuing or otherwise. Once I have that information back, I will be making a determination.”

Opposition MLC Terry Stephens said there was community concern about the future of the hall.

“This smells of a sale to me,” he said.

Asked directly by Mr Stephens if a sale was a possibility, Mr Hunter said “all possibilities” were under consideration.