The bush telegraph was running hot this afternoon that the famous Wicklow Hotel in Armidale may be closing its doors, after the popular new event Skeptics in the Pub was told they needed a new venue.
Amelia Willmer, one of the organisers of Skeptics in the Pub, said she has had a frantic afternoon finding another venue after getting a call from the manager of the Wicklow around lunch time saying they can no longer host their event.
“I can’t speak for the Wicklow, obviously, but Brendan just said they’re out, and we need to find a new venue.”
The oldest licenced establishment in the New England remains open at the moment, but the closing is imminent. Owner of the Wicklow Hotel, Wal Broun, confirmed to the New England Times that they have decided to close, but the exact date for last drinks is not yet confirmed.
“It’s a difficult time economically and we have a long winter ahead,” Mr Broun said.
“So we have had to make the difficult decision to close. I’m not sure when exactly, but I didn’t want people to be left without a venue.”
Mr Broun said the establishment’s 13 staff are mostly casual and some have already found other jobs.
“They’ve been having less and less shifts for a while.”
“There is a bit a of a shortage of hospitality staff generally in Armidale, so I think they’ll be ok.”
The Wicklow Hotel was listed for sale with an asking price of $9.85m earlier this year, and remains listed on the website as for sale. The agency working on the sale, LAWD, confirmed they were still working on the sale with the vendor.
“It is on the market and we have had some interest,” Mr Broun said.
“But as we don’t see things improving until the spring, we have decided to close.”
Fortunately the popular new local event was able to secure the Sports Bar at Armidale’s Railway Hotel in Rusden Street as an alternative venue, and Skeptics in the Pub will go ahead next Tuesday June 25 as planned, with the intended theme of Cancel Culture and the same start time of 6pm. Guest speaker is NERAM Director Rachael Parsons who will deliver a no-holds-barred critique of Cancel Culture.
“I was so scared we wouldn’t be able to find an alternative venue, but we have, and the event will go ahead, and that’s the important thing,” Amelia said.
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