DEMOLITION of the Millicent’s Sportsman’s Hotel verandah was completed yesterday.
The work was resumed by contractors on Monday after a break for the weekend.
Concerns about the structural integrity of the verandah prompted the demolition.
Specialist asbestos removal personnel started work nine days ago and other contractors have since been on site.
A spokesperson for Teagle Excavations said their workers were unable to salvage any timber.
“Much of the wood was rotting and could not be used for other purposes,” the spokesperson said.
The demolition work has attracted much comment on social media.
A considerable section of the footpath on the adjoining three properties has been temporarily blocked off to pedestrians.
The main door of Absolutely Anything has been closed and so a secondary door is currently in use.
The Sportsman’s Hotel has traded continuously in George Street for the past 143 years and access to the premises is through Davenport Street for the time being.
The hotel has a number of bars and dining rooms, 32 poker machines, a leased shed and private accommodation upstairs.
Also known as the “Sporties”, it is the second-oldest of Millicent’s three pubs and was built in 1876.
Its licence had been transferred by pioneering publican Robert Grist from the long-demolished Bush Inn, which was established at Mount Burr in the 1860s.
It is arguably most prominent overnight guest was English science fiction novelist H.G. Wells who visited in January, 1939.
The Sportsman’s Hotel is operated by Rui Hui Pty Ltd after the licence was transferred in 2017 from SH Millicent Pty Ltd.
