General News
3 November, 2022
Last drinks for Avoca’s Victoria Hotel
Last drinks have been called for Avoca’s Victoria Hotel, with the local establishment closing its doors this weekend after an alleged lack of investment. The owners of the building, who currently live in Germany, have not spent any money to...
Last drinks have been called for Avoca’s Victoria Hotel, with the local establishment closing its doors this weekend after an alleged lack of investment.
The owners of the building, who currently live in Germany, have not spent any money to restore the building, according to lessee Stuart Diggerson, who said it continues to deteriorate.
Mr Diggerson said a commercial builder assessed the site in 2019 and gave a conservative estimate at $1.2 million for repairs, not including the upstairs accommodation which has not been in use for a number of years.
Paying almost $6500 a month to rent a building continually failing, Mr Diggerson said he had tried to negotiate a better lease and get the owners to invest in the building, but no agreements could be made.
“Our next option for the lease was due in March this year and we decided to try and negotiate a new lease but because the owners are in Germany, it takes a while to get some sort of information back from them and we weren’t able to get an agreement over the line,” he said.
“I told the owners that we’d be open for the Melbourne Cup and then I’d be out of there and to be honest, I had hoped they’d come back with a counter offer but they didn’t — I sort of shot myself in the foot.
“There’s only so much you can do though, each time it rains we have water coming into the bottle shop through the roof, there are cracks in the walls and the floor has moved in places, the list just goes on.”
Mr Diggerson said he had tried to take the owners of the building to court over the lack of investment, however the pandemic prolonged the process and Mr Diggerson pulled out.
“It is frustrating that the owners didn’t do anything about the place which has just been deteriorating all the time and we’re having to pay good money in rent while they do nothing,” he said.
“Dad and I had been doing this for a number of years and my grandfather as well, it’s a family business of 40 odd years and now it’s come to an abrupt halt.”
The lack of investment in the building, which was taken up by Mr Diggerson and his late father Steve in 2015, has caused fears the owners may seek to demolish the building, which has stood since 1858.
“There is a heritage overlay on the building from the Pyrenees Shire Council and I know the stables at the back of the building are heritage listed,” he said.
“Why else wouldn’t they spend money on the place? It’s a beautiful building with so much history — if they had spent some money years ago, it would be nowhere near the state it’s in now.”
The pub will mark its final day of trading this Sunday, November 6 and Mr Diggerson thanked the community for their support.
“I can’t thank the locals and local sporting clubs enough for their support, we’ve certainly given a bit to them but they’ve given it back in spades,” he said.
“It’s been great here, we’ve sponsored the footy and netball club, cricket club, the men’s shed and we’d have a community raffle each week pre-COVID and we’d give money to community groups and other organisations like the Royal Children’s Hospital.
“We tried to do the best we could — you’ve got to be involved in the community, that’s the whole idea of being in a country pub.
“It’s going to be a very sad day when I leave, I’ve loved this town and it’s one of the better communities I’ve been involved in.”