Historic Vic Hotel could soon be open with renovations still underway
The historic Vic Hotel could soon be open again, with many eager to dance to their hearts content in the iconic pub.
Northern Territory
Don't miss out on the headlines from Northern Territory. Followed categories will be added to My News.
PEOPLE may soon be dancing on the tables of the historic Victoria Hotel once again as the popular closed-down venue looks likely to open its doors once again.
Renovations and construction have been under way at the site of the pub for several months, with new beer taps and tables popping up in the centrepiece of the Vic Arcade.
And if that wasn’t enough, The Vic Hotel Facebook page has also burst back into life over the past couple of months.
“Boom! It’s happening!!” their most recent comment read on August 5 and though it may not say much it drew plenty of attention from long-time patrons of the location.
Darwin Lord Mayor Kon Vatskalis expressed his excitement at the potential reopening and said that he and the Darwin council would support the return of the historic venue.
“We would absolutely be in support of the Vic Hotel making a return,” Mr Vatskalis said.
“People are not coming to the mall to buy things they can get at the big shopping centres, they need something different to bring them here and The Vic Hotel is something different.
“We understand that it needs to be upgraded and updated but that is certainly achievable.
“We have cafes and eateries in the mall which attract people, but a place like this will be open for lunch and dinner bringing plenty of people through.”
The Vic Hotel has a proud history in Darwin, opened in 1890 by Ellen Ryan during the gold rush era to cater for Darwin’s surging population.
It withstood the bombing of Darwin in 1942 and Cyclone Tracy in 1974 but fell upon hard times in the early 2010s.
In May 2011, The Vic was put on the market after going into receivership and was forced to briefly close its doors.
The venue returned for a brief time, but in October 2014 the owners announced that the hotel was shutting for good due to financial hardship.
The Vic Hotel owners were called for comment.
Live stream: Nightcliff v Buffaloes, NTFL Men’s Round 2
The Nightcliff Tigers return home with the aim of winning their first game of the season, against a Buffaloes outfit chasing the same goal. Find out how to watch the match LIVE.
‘My sidekick’: Alice Springs mourns after Qld blaze claims one of its own
‘If you didn’t know her, then you wanted to know her’: The 31-year-old woman who died alongside her goddaughter in a Brisbane bayside house fire touched the lives of all who knew her, a family friend says.