Cheers nightclub: Swinburne Uni to turn old Hawthorn bar into student lounge

It was one of Melbourne’s biggest Tuesday night party spots — but huge changes are coming to the old Cheers nightclub building. This is what’s happening.

One of Melbourne’s most famous party bars is being replaced by a queer room and dedicated space for women as part of a new university study lounge.

Swinburne University is transforming the former Caseys nightclub building at 660A Glenferrie Road in Hawthorn into a new study space, The Junction, after it bought the building in 2016.

The old nightclub opened in 1973 and has remained empty since mid-2018.

It was home to popular Tuesday party night Cheers in the early 2000s and 2010s, which drew generations of young clubbers.

The downstairs bar at the former Cheers nightclub in Hawthorn, which has been bought by Swinburne University. Picture: Kiel Egging.

Planning documents lodged with Boroondara Council show the university is spending $950,000 on renovating the building, including neon signs, an elevator and a new roof and windows.

A Swinburne spokeswoman said the lounge would feature quiet study space on the ground level, while the old upstairs dancefloor areas would have “collaboration spaces”.

“Upstairs, students will have access to a new queer room and women’s space,” the spokeswoman said.

“It will also host group meetings and has collaboration spaces which are expected to open in 2022.”

The university did not say how much it spent purchasing the building or if original features of the nightclub, including its downstairs bar, would remain.

A Boroondara Council spokesman said the building’s planning application was still on public advertising and no objections had been received so far.

It is the second old nightclub space in the area which the university has snapped up to develop its own facilities.

Swinburne helped revive the nearby Hawthorn Hotel on Burwood Rd earlier this year, which it also owns, after operators Australian Venue Co handed in its lease in September 2020 due to the impact of Covid-19.

But the two parties struck a deal to revive the pub downstairs, with Swinburne taking over the second level as dedicated space for alumni, industry partners, staff and students.