TANTANOOLA remains a town without a pub as the Tiger Hotel will not open for the foreseeable future.
Trading at the Railway Terrace premises was suspended a few months ago due to COVID-19 protocols which applied nationwide to hospitality outlets.
Although the exterior signage remains unchanged and states the Tiger Hotel is operational, this has not been the case.
Its current managers have announced it would not be reopening.
They told The South Eastern Times the three-year lease on the premises had finished.
The hotel has had a number of other lengthy closures and changes of management since 2011.
The lease is available for sale through an Adelaide hotel broker and the freehold is understood to be in the ownership of an Adelaide investor.
Sporting identity Robbie Warren was the Tiger Hotel publican from 1985 until 1988 and he is set to reopen The George Hotel in Millicent in the near future.
The Tiger Hotel has existed on the site for almost 140 years.
It is famous for displaying the so-called Tantanoola Tiger in a glass case in the front bar.
In 1893, there were reports of a strange animal in the Tantanoola area and it was described as a tiger.
The so-called “Tiger” was killed in 1895 and it was discovered it was actually an Assyrian Wolf.
Meanwhile, the future of another colonial-era institution at Tantanoola is also uncertain.
Classes at Tantanoola Primary School were suspended for 2020 after only one child was enrolled in January.
