SA government says Adelaide’s Crown & Anchor Hotel is saved

The state government has made a major announcement about the future plans for Adelaide’s iconic Crown & Anchor hotel, following months of controversial backlash.

Premier Peter Malinauskas has confirmed the iconic CBD pub the Crown & Anchor hotel will be saved from the wrecking ball, although it will close for up to two years while student accommodation is built.

As part of the compromise that saved the Crown & Anchor, developer Wee Hur Holdings will be allowed to add an extra 10 storeys to its student accommodation block, making it 29 storeys in total. Mr Malinauskas said the developer would “invest’’ a further $150 million into the project.

Mr Malinauskas made the announcement to a delighted crowd of around 1000 people who marched from Victoria Square to Parliament House.

He said he would take to Cabinet on Monday a submission to introduce legislation next week to save the building and the pub.

“The legislation we are introducing will not just save the building and the pub but give an unfettered right to play live music for ever more,” he said.

He also said the pub would be closed “temporarily” while soundproofing work was completed.

Mr Malinauskas said the legislation would mean the pub cannot be “demolished, it cannot be built over, and that its current land use as a hotel and live music venue will be preserved’’.

He also said planning laws would be amended to “protect significant live music pubs in the City of Adelaide area from neighbour complaints’’.

Thousands of protesters gathered at Victoria Square (Tarntanyangga) from 12.30pm on Sunday, before they marched to the steps of Parliament House, rallying for the venue’s future.

The pub, colloquially known as the Cranker, has been at the centre of fierce debate and a petition was started in March. Save the Cranker organiser Evan Morony said the Crown & Anchor was now “the most protected pub in South Australia”.

The controversial development plan was lodged by the Singapore-based company in early March, prompting a groundswell of backlash from live music fans, parliamentary debate and criticisms from the state’s Government Architect.

Development plans for the beloved Crown & Anchor on Grenfell St revealed the inside of the 171-year-old pub’s front bar area would be completely overhauled and converted to a retail or cafe space, while the first floor would include a “yoga/dancing” area.

Accommodation for more than 700 students was to be constructed above the current site to form an 19-storey tower.

Previously, Mr Malinauskas had spoken directly to developers Wee Hur Holdings Ltd over plans to gut the historic live music venue.

On Thursday morning, he said his government would like to see the Cranker saved, but not at the expense of investment in development, particularly in accommodation and student accommodation.

Greens MLC Robert Simms and Senator Sarah Hanson-Young also spoke to the crowd.

Mr Simms, who was behind a parliamentary motion in May that voted to acknowledge the venue’s history and importance, said any agreement must guarantee the long-term future of the pub as a live music venue.

Wee Hur is also behind the CBD’s 17-storey UniLodge high-rise on Gray St, which houses 756 students, as well as the $90m, 16-storey Y Suites on Waymouth St, with 811 beds.

In April, thousands of people from across the state gathered outside the hotel – better known as the Cranker – demanding the state government step in to save the pub from developers.

Patrons and music fans staged the colourful protest into the afternoon in a push to change laws, including the all female band Pelvis, who kicked off the protest from a flatbed truck in front of the pub.