Southport’s Courthouse Hotel to become education facility after 130 years as a pub

IT’S been the home of publicans slinging suds for more than 130 years but you won’t be able to buy a beer at the old Courthouse hotel when it soon reopens for just one reason.

The Courthouse Hotel.

IT’S the end of an era for one of the Gold Coast’s oldest pubs after more than 13 decades of serving drinks

Southport’s Courthouse Hotel will be leased out to become an education facility, offering courses in hospitality and massage, a far cry from its former trade selling beer and steaks.

Academique will occupy most of the old pub’s building on the corner of Davenport and Nerang Street but its owner, Ohreka Pty Ltd, has not leased the bistro.

The Courthouse Hotel closed in 2015 Picture Mike Batterham

It brings down the curtain on 130 years of pubs operating on the site, a tradition which dates back to the earliest days of Southport.

But area councillor Dawn Crichlow said she hoped to see the bistro section revamped to become a bar catering to “hipsters”.

“We are starting to see a lot of young people in the area who are known as hipsters,” she said.

The Queen’s Arms Hotel in 1885.

“I think there is definitely a need for another venue for hipsters in the back section of the old hotel.

“Let’s make Southport trendy day and night.”

Originally known as the Queen’s Arms Hotel, the pub was opened by Frederick Fass in 1885, just seven years after the small township’s first hotel, the Pacific, which opened its doors on Marine Parade in 1878.

In those early days there were several popular watering holes, including venues such as The Grand and The Railway Hotel which remain open today.

The two-storey wooden structure housing the Queen’s Arms Hotel stood on the site of the current building and was one of Southport’s early success stories,

The Queens Hotel in 1914 Picture: Supplied

The pub was later known as the simply as the Queens Hotel and operated until 1998 when it underwent a major facelift and was renamed The Courthouse.

Among its owners through the years was rugby league legend John Sattler who operated it during the 1980s.

In the early 90s it was run by leading liquor retailer Tom O’Neill and his family before it was auctioned in 1996.

It closed in 2015.

Mr Hans Torv pictured at the Courthouse Hotel. Picture Mike Batterham

Former owner Hans Torv, who sold the building in 2016, said he hoped the new operators prospered.

“The demand is there and there will be more demand for entertainment I have no doubt,” he said.

“It was slow to find its speed but it is coming up in a gradual process.”