Goomeri Grand Hotel owners reveal expansion plans

A beloved country watering hole west of Gympie has revealed plans for a major facelift and expansion with a lounge, dining area and new accommodation.

Goomeri’s Grand Hotel, owned by Joe Pendergast (inset), is in line for a major upgrade and expansion which would absorb the town’s old post office into the venue.

One of the region’s most popular watering holes is in line for a major facelift and expansion which would absorb the town’s old post office into the venue,

The owner of Goomeri’s Grand Hotel, Joe Pendergast, has lodged a development plan with Gympie Regional Council seeking permission to expand the venue’s services.

Significant changes are proposed for the hotel.

These include adding to the existing hotel a new enclosed dining room, another rear kitchen, a new breeze way and veranda, and reducing the upstairs accommodation from 18 rooms to 12.

The old post office next door to the hotel will be transformed into a lounge and second bar, and the hotel’s bottle shop will be moved to this building.

Designer impression of how an old post office would be incorporated into an expansion of Goomeri’s Grand Hotel as part of plans lodged with Gympie Regional Council.

A third, new building will be added to the premises to offer short-term accommodation.

The seven new rooms will offset the changes made to the existing hotel’s second floor.

Twenty-six new parking spots are planned to be added behind the hotel, off Perrett St.

$30k cash injection boosts group’s regional elderly housing bid

The report says neither the hotel or the old post office are heritage listed but, as they date back to at least the 1940s, “these buildings have significance to both residents and visitors of Goomeri”.

The redevelopment would help preserve them.

The plans to expand the Goomeri Grand Hotel include building a new short-term accommodation building at the pub’s western side.

“Integrating the former post office building into the hotel use ensures the ongoing protection of the building,” the development application says.

Councillor calls for investigations to be made public

The hotel, owned by Joe and Miranda Pendergast, is one of three popular venues the couple owns in the region including the Goomeri Bakery and the Dusty Hill Vineyard.

If approved it would be the latest in a series of expansions of their businesses.

In 2021 they began work on a $6.5m expansion of the vineyard located at Moffatdale, 20km southwest of Goomeri.

The vineyard expansion is expected to be open in 2023.