Normanby Hotel to close for several months after lease changes hands

One of Brisbane’s most well-known hotels will close for several months in just a few days’ time, in a move so sudden staff have been forced to run around cancelling major bookings.

The Normanby Hotel in Brisbane. Picture: Jono Searle.

BRISBANE’S Normanby Hotel, where Alfie Langer dropped his pants and table danced and management had a long-running battle with Liquor Licensing, will change hands.

Staff were told on Monday that the hotel will serve its last beers on Sunday before the venue shuts for several months to be refurbished.

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The Normanby Hotel is on the market and expected to attract local and interstate interest

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The Pelathon Management Group, which also owns Grand Central Hotel have entered a two-year lease with the option to buy the freehold after three years.

Pelathon Management Group spokesman Jaz Mooney said it took four months to negotiate the deal and they were looking forward to giving it a facelift.

“It’s iconic pub and one of the biggest in Brisbane and we think it just needs some love and attention,” Mr Mooney said.

The Normanby, which was built in 1889, is situated at the Normanby Fiveways, Red Hill, and has been on the market for more than a year.

It’s believed the original asking price was $18 million although it’s unclear how much the lease for the premier site was purchased for.

Staff were told on Monday that the hotel will serve its last beers on Sunday before the venue shuts for several months. Picture: Jono Searle.

Sunday sessions at the venue were legendary during the 2000s and it was a regular haunt of many a professional footballer from AFL to NRL as well as cricketers and soccer stars.

The Red Hill hotel includes a huge car park which was often converted into an outdoor venue on long weekends.

Office staff on Wednesday were busy calling dozens of businesses to cancel functions that had been booked beyond Sunday.

Among several infamous incidents at the hotel over the decades, Rugby League legend Alfie Langer was photographed dancing on a table and dropping his pants in 2010.

Two years earlier cricketer Andrew Symonds got into an altercation with a patron after being photographed while out with members of the Australian Rugby League team.