C Bar reveals plans for dramatic $2m upgrade bringing it closer to the Coral Sea

A dramatic multi-million dollar upgrade of a Strand venue will weatherproof it and bring it closer to the Coral Sea. See first pictures of the planned changes.

C Bar owner Allan Pike is looking forward to reopening his transformed venue just in time for Christmas trading. Picture: Supplied.

A new era is coming to Townsville’s iconic dining venue C Bar, which will undergo a multimillion-dollar upgrade to bring it closer to the water, add a function space, and allow it to operate weatherproofed.

After spending nearly three years working behind the scenes to secure the necessary government approvals, C Bar owner Allan Pike was excited and slightly nervous to unveil details about the $2m transformation of their building, which was built on the Strand’s Gregory St Headland 21 years ago.

Mr Pike confirmed that C Bar’s last day of trading was September 29, with the “full makeover” renovation process expected to wrap up after nine weeks, just in time for Christmas functions in the first week of December.

“It’ll be nothing like it here on the coast so that’s exciting times for us. The same shell will be here, but everything else will be different,” Mr Pike said.

“It’ll be a total transformation with everything state of the art, everything brand new, materials that have got 25 and 50 year warranties on them.

Artist impression of C Bar's planned internal bar/ coffee area. Picture: Supplied.

“We’re going out over the water, another two meters (and) we’re putting in a big private function room … so that’ll hold about 50 people seated, and about 70 to 80 standing up.”

He looked forward to having a hard roof over the deck, with ceiling fans and blinds to block the sun, allowing them to continue operating despite hot or rainy conditions, which previously hampered the venue for three months a year.

Artist impression of C Bar's planned front entrance area. Picture: Supplied.

While the upgrade would boost their dining capacity from 170 to 200 guests, Mr Pike was happier to have the extra space to spread out.

“It’ll have steel up on the roof … an architectural feature to the place that people see and say ‘my god, what’s going on out there?’ he said.

“(There will be a) state-of-the-art audio system going through the place … new bars, coffee area, new point of sale system area, brand new toilets … and new furniture.

“The dedicated function room will have an 80 inch TV with HDMI so people can play their photos or PowerPoint presentations if they’ve got meetings.”

Given it was a quiet trading period, Mr Pike said Spring was an ideal time to close.

Artist impression of C Bar's planned internal function area. Picture: Supplied.

“Some of (the staff) are going on overseas trips and holidays. The ones that haven’t got that amount of time up, I’ve found other jobs in other hospitality areas with people that I could trust who will take them on, give them work, and give them back to me at the end of it,” he said.

Visitors had already begun praising the renovation plans, saying they would be “amazing”.

To follow the changes, visit: www.facebook.com/CBarStrand

Originally published as C Bar reveals plans for dramatic $2m upgrade bringing it closer to the Coral Sea