Old Green Door Cafe in Gympie to be torn down for Sauers nursery expansion

The remains of a once popular Gympie cafe are living on borrowed time, with the long-closed shop to make way for an expansion of another of the region’s oldest businesses.

For more than 30 years the iconic Green Door Cafe near the historic Gympie station was the hip place to be.

Now its days are numbered with the cafe’s dilapidated former home to be demolished to make way for a major expansion by another long running Gympie business.

Sauers Produce and Garden owner Kelly O’Farrell said the building, at the corner of Tozer St and Station Rd, had been “eaten out by white ants … the ceiling’s fallen in, the floor’s caved in”.

Chases, crashes: 20 traffic offenders taken off the road

The building has been fenced off for several weeks, and Ms O’Farrell said the cafe’s shell would be demolished in the near future.

Ms O’Farrell, who took over the business with partner Ben Bernard in July, said Sauers would then be expanding its nursery into the new building.

Regional pool’s future muddied amid shock lease push

The Green Door Cafe was the place to be for moviegoers and school students more than 30 years, until it was shut in the early 1990s.

There might be a few other surprises on the horizon, too.

The shop’s nursery was based behind the building, which served as the popular Green Door Cafe for decades.

It was built in 1951 by Jim Gleeson and opened the following year.

Former Sauers owner David Lade said in 2016 the cafe was the popular choice to grab a bite to eat after heading to “the pictures”.

“In those days there wasn’t any McDonald’s or KFC. If you wanted something after the pictures, you came to the Green Door,” Mr Lade.

Gympie high school students made it a regular pit stop too.

Sauers Produce and Garden staff (from left) Craig Cameron, Suzy Parsons, Ben Bernard, Brookelyn Haack, Kelly O'Farrell, James Smith, and Jess McLeay look forward to the business expanding and adding another chapter to its 90-year history.

The cafe’s mark extended beyond its walls too, eventually influencing the paint scheme of the nearby Sauers store.

It was shut in the early 90s, and has remained empty since.

The Sauers family owns the block of land.

Mr Bernard said there were “grand plans” for the block, but they wanted to play their cards close to the chest.

“We have to move with the times,” Mr Bernard said.

“Sauers Produce has been established since 1932, we’re taking it to another level.

“Not everyone wants to deal with the big multinationals, we want to keep the old school service, the old school traditions here.”

Mrs O’Farrell asked “how long is a piece of string” in response to questions as to when the expansion would be open.

“We’ll try and get it done as soon as we can,” she said.

“It’ll be fantastic.

“We’re really looking forward to it.”