A historic Bathurst pub will enter a brand new era on Monday, as the Victoria is set to debut its brand new look.
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Inside and outside, the Victoria has been transformed into a entirely new venue that features bright splashes of colour and hand-crafted furniture.
The Victoria’s general manager Heath Smith says the revamped venue had a lot of local help in ensuring it became fully realised.
“We’ve incorporated a lot of local artists, furniture makers, tradies and artisans to make this venue quite unique,” Mr Smith said.
“All in all, we just want to be a great local pub.”
First established in 1876, the venue is part of an historic Bathurst complex that includes the neighbouring Victoria Stores building and Tremain’s Mill.
Formerly known as the Victoria Hotel, the venue has taken a bold step in removing the ‘Hotel’ part from its branding, signalling a confident new direction.
“We want to be the sort of place that you can drop into any day of the week, whether it’s for a special occasion or you’ve just been out walking the dog,” Mr Smith said.
Mr Smith has been in and around Bathurst’s food and beverage scene for 12 years, and said it’s essential to adapt to change when it comes to business.
“It’s important to keep things fresh and current, while looking for new trends to meet the market,” he said.
“We’ve done a couple of trial runs over the weekend, and everyone has been highly receptive to the venue’s casual and inclusive atmosphere.”
Along with the diverse local effort that has gone into renovating the Victoria, the venue will promote a number of small producers with their range of beer, wine and spirits.
As a companion to the beverages, the venue will also feature a delicious menu catering for everyone’s taste.
The Victoria is the first venue to open within the burgeoning Tremain’s Mill precinct in lower Keppel Street, which is aiming to provide a brand new shopping and cultural hub for Bathurst.
“I’ve been heavily involved in the Tremain’s Mill project for the past 14 months, and I hope we are able to set the tone for what the public can expect from the precinct,” Mr Smith said.
With the opening of the Victoria serving as stage one, Mr Smith hopes to turn the attention to expanding the appeal of the venue.
“The next stage will be revamping our 25 hotel rooms upstairs, and then we’re going to create a large beer garden which we plan to turn into an outdoor events space,” he said.
Keppel Street is already well known in the Bathurst community for its firm artistic pull, and is something that Mr Smith feels is not lost at the Victoria.
“We’ve got a strong arts scene throughout the hotel, and we’re hoping to add to Keppel Street’s vibrant personality,” he said.