The fence has been up around the Imperial Hotel at Mt Victoria for about four years, leaving locals in doubt as to whether plans for a major upgrade would ever start.
But the group behind the proposal to turn it into a top-class hotel has reassured the Gazette that it will still happen. One Pro Investment Group, which is backed by Chinese interests, bought the pub in 2017 for about $2.5 million. It then made an agreement to turn it into a boutique Radisson hotel.
Radisson Hotel's Asia-Pacific PR director, Eunice Tan, told the Gazette: "Due to the pandemic and border closures, the property has encountered delays in the progress of the construction. The project is still ongoing and progress is underway."
One Pro has approved $8.3 million plans to restore and renovate the pub as well as a separate proposal to knock down the adjoining 1960s motel and replace it with a number of accommodation chalets set around landscaped gardens.
One Pro's plans would see close to $20 million spent on the 1878 pub to create a 60-bed complex.
