Edinburgh Castle Hotel closes, citing lack of delivery access due to nearby construction
THE Edinburgh Castle Hotel has closed its doors after 181 years — a victim of the chaos from surrounding construction projects.
ONE of Adelaide’s oldest pubs has closed its doors after surrounding developments shut off street access to the property.
There will be no more beers pulled at the Edinburgh Castle, at least in the short term, after owner Tony Bond relinquished his lease on the property and called last drinks for the final time.
The Edinburgh Castle has the oldest trading licence in South Australia, dating back to 1837.
Mr Bond told The Advertiser that he had handed back the lease to his landlord early in September but the fate of the Currie St hotel had been sealed since the beginning of the year.
“What really killed us was the loss of the loading zone,” Mr Bond said.
“It made it bloody hard to run the business when you had to roll kegs 100m down the road.
“We had delivery drivers saying they couldn’t drop off for the day because there was just nowhere to park. It was really tough to resupply.”
Despite giving up his passion project Mr Bond has been philosophical about the closure, saying he wanted to ensure other businesses didn’t have the same experience.
“I don’t want this to happen to anyone else,” Mr Bond said.
“People have a lot invested in their businesses. Developers and the Adelaide Council need to work harder to liaise with business owners.”
Mr Bond said he was unsure of the future of the site and whether the pub would continue to run.
In August, Mr Bond said the pub was on its knees as a result of the flow on effect from the construction of an $80m, 772-bed student accomodation complex nearby.