The time has come to take off your dancing shoes and settle in to a new era of inner west entertainment. After months of speculation and controversy, Erskineville’s The Imperial Hotel has been sold. It’s set to be reopened as a high end restaurant.
Once a renowned LGBTQI hotspot, in recent months the hotel has come under fire for all manner of violations, including a forced 72-hour shutdown due to extreme intoxication, open drug use and ongoing disturbances by patrons leaving the venue. As a result, late night clubbing destination The Spice Cellar, which had only recently moved to the Imperial from within the lock-out zone, announced that they were jumping ship. The venue has not reopened since.
While the late night dance music might now be a thing of the past, new owners Fraser Short and Scott Leach are giving foodies plenty of reasons to visit the inner west landmark.
The pair, who officially took the venue off owner Shadd Danesi’s hands this Wednesday, boast a hefty restaurant CV between them, coming from Morrison’s Bar and Grill, the Watson’s Bay Hotel and Erskineville’s Rose of Australia.
The venue will have $3 million invested straight away, and will be closed for the coming months while renovations and planning takes place. The new owners have also made it clear that they’ll be using this time to consult with the local LGBTQI community.
“We recognise the Imperial’s importance to the LGBTIQ community and we will be reaching out to the community in coming months as we try to create something unique and special with the venue, whilst acknowledging its LGBTIQ heritage,” said Leach.
Previous owner Danesi, who ran the venue for more than a decade, has said that he sold the venue due to “unfair” legislation which holds the landlord responsible for the behaviour of the tenant.“A landlord who owns a hotel in NSW will suffer financially if strikes are imposed through no action that they have taken,” he said. “They haven’t committed an offence except have an investment in a hotel. But the way the legislation is drafted, they will then suffer commercially.”
Source: Gay News Network
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