The company that bought the Imperial Hotel in Mt Victoria plan to spend $8.3 million restoring it to its former glory.
In plans before council, One Pro Blue Mountains Hotel Ltd outlines the first major redevelopment since the 1980s.
It hopes to knock out internal walls on the ground floor to reconfigure the bar/gaming area, the ballroom/dining room and the office/reception.
And it will convert the 30 existing rooms to 18, all with en suites, and two of them (on the ground floor) accessible for people with a disability.
It will also restore an outdoor dining area and remove some of the enclosed verandahs upstairs.
The previous owners of the pub reduced its operating hours last November, opening for just 10 hours over weekends.
Eventually it closed completely and was sold in February this year.
Under the new DA, the bar would open noon-10pm Monday-Thursday, 10am-midnight Friday and Saturday and 10am-10pm on Sundays.
The Imperial was built in 1878 and is the only Blue Mountains hotel to have traded continuously under one name.
The DA places emphasis on the hotel’s heritage, promising to retain such features as the internal staircase, front courtyard setting and upper level balconies.
The company estimates it will spend $6.2 million in structural works, plus another $600,000 for the fitout and nearly half a million in landscaping.
The statement of environmental effects concluded: “The Imperial Hotel is a long standing hotel that has been providing a service to the community for generations. The proposed refurbishment works have the potential to generate employment within the local area whilst also providing for tourist accommodation which is considered to attract people to the area and increase local expenditure.”
The proposed refurbishment works have the potential to generate employment within the local area.
The planned upgrade and return of the town’s only meeting place was welcomed by the Mt Victoria Community Association.
“The Imperial is such a big part of our historic village and it will be wonderful to see it re-open after this complete renovation,” said association president, Mina Howard. “It will be a great drawcard for visitors to the village.”
