Iconic Tonsley Hotel shuts doors ahead of demolition, but cheers to new beginnings

A popular Adelaide hotel is set to be demolished early next year, but the owners are promising an exciting new development for residents.

The last drinks have been poured at the Tonsley Hotel as the pub shuts its doors before the building is demolished to make way for the final stage of the North-South Corridor.

Hurley Hotel Group have owned the hotel since 1997 and project manager Anna Hurley said staff were busy packing up before demolition of the site is expected to start mid-January.

The hotel was subject to compulsory acquisition as the government works on the $9.9bn Torrens to Darlington upgrade to complete the North-South Corridor; a 78km non-stop, traffic light-free motorway between Gawler and Old Noarlunga.

The Tonsley Hotel is going to be demolished with the Torrens to Darlington road upgrades. Picture: Tom Huntley

Ms Hurley said the hotel had been a popular spot since being built in 1966 and was a well-known nightclub in the 80s and 90s.

The Tonsley Hotel first opened in 1966 under the South Australian Brewing Company in response to a surge in demand for pubs around Chrysler’s old Tonsley Park assembly plant, which opened two years earlier.

The pub’s Chrysler bar paid tribute to the car manufacturing industry with memorabilia and old cars in the hotel.

Ms Hurley said that while today was a sad day to be saying goodbye, residents could be excited for what the future holds.

“A lot of people in the area are disappointed to see it being moved and we are too but the important thing for us is it’s not the end of the story for the Tonsley, it’s just the start of a new chapter,” she said.

“We are sad to be moving out of the Tonsley but we’ve known for a while this was going to be the case.”

“But, we always knew the road was going to mean we had to be compulsorily acquired and we’ve been working through the process with the government over the last couple of years and it should be wrapped up within a month.

She said a new hotel would open to service the same locals.

“As soon as we found out we needed to vacate, we started the hunt for a site nearby, we wanted to maintain a connection with the locals here,” she said.

“We’ve built a new bottle shop there and we are opening a temporary pop-up pub and we are in the final stages of planning to build a new hotel which is going to be a fantastic new development on Goodwood Rd.

“It will have 77 accommodation rooms, three bars, a restaurant, a roof top bar … we are excited.”