KEY POINTS:
It is last orders for what may be the oldest pub on the West Coast in Hokitika tonight.
Regulars, staff present and past and countless musicians are expected to jam and party until the small hours for the last night Devaney's Club Hotel is open to the public.
That will be followed by a private function tomorrow night before the pub is closed forever. It may be replaced by a retail centre and motel.
Publican Tracey Molloy, who has worked behind the bar for three years, said she had mixed emotions about the hotel's final days.
"I can't believe the day has come. It's sad and I'm going to miss all the great people I've met here."
The grand old building on Revell St has seen better days as its windows are buckling, walls are popping out and the veranda sags outside. The 10 gutted rooms upstairs were condemned last year and are littered with debris from past occupants and a patchwork of makeshift repairs.
The closure means the end of an era and cuts another link with the West Coast gold rushes.
Beer has been served in the same building since 1866 when it catered to thirsty gold diggers, and it has not altered greatly in the 140 years since.
It may even be the oldest original pub left on the West Coast. Irish publican Thomas Devaney managed the hotel from 1898. More recently it was owned and operated by the Keats family for about 30 years after they first took over in 1966.
Present owner Patrick Nolan is to have it demolished.
Plans for a retail centre, motel or apartment block on the site have been mooted but Mr Nolan said the antique bar display and stained glass window would be preserved and used in any future development.
- NZPA
