The Regatta Hotel

The Regatta Hotel

For almost 140 years Brisbane has met, mingled and created stories at The Regatta Hotel's historic bars and around her ornate, cast iron-laced verandahs. Without doubt, the hotel is the -Grand Lady of the Brisbane River', standing sentinel over the city. This lady is set to return – and the restoration is breath-taking. History has been rebuilt, setting the stage for a new era.

As a seasoned entertainer, The Regatta has had her feet wet more times than a patron has had a spill with the amber; but she wasn't counting on gumboots and holding her breath as the sun rose over the floodwaters of Brisbane on the morning of January 13, 2011.
Yet it takes more than a flood to stop a hotel with character like The Regatta.

It is here the story starts, with history laid bare as her careful and sympathetic 12-month restoration nears completion. The re-opening of the doors of the Front Bar on April 10, 2012 celebrates the very heart of The Regatta Hotel, where memories and new experiences are perfect bedfellows. It's a new chapter in the story of the Regatta Hotel.

The Restoration
Just over 16 months ago, a minor -update' was planned for The Regatta Hotel, a touch-up. However, the January flood event re-shuffled the landscape and The Regatta - survivor of several major floods across 137 years -was exhausted.

Over the last 12 months, following an all-site revisit and a wholesale change to venue operations and presentation, Brisbane's best -tradies' and heritage specialists have carefully restored The Regatta – a multimillion dollar project.

The result is set to be breathtaking: a seamless marriage of modern functionality and design with Richard Gailey's celebrated historical architecture and fine craftsmanship of old. It is a rare restoration feat and indeed a story all on its own. Heralding the beginning of the Regatta's new chapter, it's first and most famous space - the Front Bar- will open to the public next month, followed by the Courtyard, before the authentic debut of its basement – the Cellar - and a new-look Boatshed.

Celebrate the past
A historical Regatta Lane marks the new entry to the hotel from the Sylvan Road car park. This step back through time is a corridor of images and memories, marking the hotel's near-140 years of history. Hotel flood markers will proudly stand at the front of the hotel – and throughout - a stirring reminder of Mother Nature's power and force.

Her external facade heralds a return to the original stark white with heritage cast-iron balustrades reinstated to complete the grand lady's crown wrapping surrounding the entire hotel, a lace-like feature for the first time. The outside verandahs have been re-floored and re-tiled to a heritage-style black and white. The aluminium window shutters have been replaced with floor to ceiling glass which will wrap around the whole balcony to increase the venue's acoustics properties.

The Front Bar - If these walls could only talk….
Known previously as the Public Bar, and the site of many historic events, this space has seen the Brisbane River cross its floors on several occasions, with the last finally compromising its structural integrity and submerging its timber floors under a foot of water.

The floors have been replaced and stylish new bars have superseded the poorer steel-framed mdf-faced stations. All bi-fold external doors have been replaced with natural timber versions and the grand, original front-curved entry door has been crafted from scratch, returning its hotel corner to a genuine congruity –mirroring the decorative structure of its upper floors, and finally being true to Gailey's original design scope.

All of the internal walls, which were lined with various layers of plasterboard and perforated metal, have been painstakingly stripped back and sealed to reveal the original brickwork laced with exposed original conduit. The sand-blasted original bricks are testament to 140 years of stories and patrons – if these walls could only talk!

The space – now entirely opened up and re-air-conditioned - is flanked with heritage style lighting and the bars dressed with sleek, white subway tiles while natural timbers stud the back of bar and bar tops. Timber skirts and brass foot rails frame the bar-front while a seemingly infinite mantle of chalk boards and feature artwork encase the bar's line of sight.

At the Coronation Drive end of the Front Bar, fine wines and champagnes will find their home, while at the other end and at the entrance to the courtyard, a Regatta Choice bar will showcase the best spirits – whiskeys, vodkas, rums, tequilas and more.

It's elegant and modern, with the wisdom of years of welcoming customers realized in the original design, the homage's to history; but in such a modern context – super cool! To the rear of the Heritage Bar (Sylvan Road entry) is the re-located TAB gaming area with a lounge studded by the hotel's beautiful and operational double-sided marble fireplace.

The new Courtyard
What was once a sunken pit and smoking area adjoining the Boatshed to the Regatta Hotel proper is now a beautifully suspended concrete deck which runs seamlessly through the whole level of the heritage site, hosting an entirely new, sophisticated courtyard and beer-garden area with an electrical retractable roof and a stunning Queensland style island bar. This is exciting new space for the hotel and is the final piece in the puzzle, it completes The Regatta-Boatshed story.

Notably, the new toilets - replete with hanging boat oars, interior lime-washed timbers and stunning chandelier lighting - have been relocated to the rear of the courtyard adjacent to the custom built gaming lounge.

The Boatshed
The Boatshed circa 2012 resembles very little of the venue it was in a previous life. The Boatshed is set to carve a niche as a restaurant of note for gastro-pub dining, tipping steak as its pack leader, and a commitment to fresh, local and seasonal produce as mainstays.

Leading on from the new Courtyard's island bar, The Boatshed – now sans external roller shutters and with a relined roof, glazing and fully air conditioned - features a new VIP dining area with seating booths, a working wine cellar and dry-aged meat cellar, a feature cold room and new open plan kitchen.

The Cellar
It's funny how history turns things upside-down. The Regatta's Cellar – formerly a holding area for traveler's buggy's and often horses – is set to become the most sought after space in the city. The micro-brewery has gone, a victim of the floods, and the intimate Cellar complete with original exposed brickwork and low labyrinth-like ceilings has been masterfully salvaged, re-air-conditioned and restored for sophisticated lounging. This is a really special space.

Her Significance and History
She is the Lady of Coronation drive – Queensland royalty. Coronation Drive began as a rough track along the river during the 1840s, initially called Moggill Road and later River Road (The Regatta was born in 1874). In 1937 the River Road was renamed Coronation Drive in honour of the coronation of King George VI, a suggestion made by Archbishop James Duhig. On 13 May 1937, the Queensland Sir planted a small bunya tree on North Quay mark the name change.

The Regatta Hotel is one of Queensland's most historic and famous pubs. She is classified by the National Trust of Queensland, was entered in the Queensland Heritage Register in 1992 and is also on the Register of the National Estate of Australian Heritage Commission. She's important!

In 1874, some 137 years ago, Lawrence Howard Healy built the Regatta Hotel, a modest single story wooden affair. What Healy didn't know was that he had just begun the story of one of Australia's greatest pubs. In 1882 the license of the hotel was transferred to William Winterford (and there's a room on Level One named after him). It was constructed at a cost of 4,800 pounds and erected in 1886. The hotel exemplifies the evolution of Queensland's history and its imposing optimism and exuberance of the times in which it was conceived by celebrated architect of the day, Richard Gailey.

Gailey contributed to the architectural character of Brisbane with his extensive use of cast iron and classical detailing – his signature style stand witness at the Regatta, today. The hotel shares a brethren with Gailey's other architectural achievements including Brisbane Girls Grammar School, The Empire Hotel (Fortitude Valley), Toowong's Masonic Hall, Moorlands, the home of the Mayne family (Auchenflower) and Brisbane CBD's Metro Building and the Baptist City Tabernacle, among others.

Naming of the Regatta Hotel would appear to come from the rowing regattas held on the river, recorded as early as the mid 1840's. The first recorded regattas were held to celebrate Foundation Day, February 13, 1842 and later Separation Day 10th December 1859.

The Floods The flood event of January 2011 wasn't the worst to flow through the streets and homes of Brisbane. Nor will it be the last. The Regatta hotel has survived many a deluge in 137 years, and her walls and floors and restoration pay tribute to this.

January 1887, saw the first of many floods pass through the hotel, covering the ground floor, Front Bar area and submerging the cellar completely. The devastating floods six years after in February 1893, saw swirling muddy waters invade the second story, and again, a fortnight later, the muddy waters returned, only this time a few inches lower. Four months later, major flooding again was to enter the hotel nearly submerging the ground floor. William Winterford after five years in the old single story hotel and 10 years in his Grand Lady of the River (as she was known by then), succumbed to the economic depression of the day, giving up his license, no doubt to retire to higher ground in 1897.

The next major flooding occurred in January of 1974, known locally as the Australia Day weekend floods. Again muddy waters entered the hotel engulfing the cellar and the ground floor. Fourteen lives were lost and some 8,000 households were affected, many homes being totally destroyed. Estimated damage was approximately $200 million in 1974 values.

In January 2011, it happened again. The Regatta Hotel was devastated by the flood event that kneecapped South East Queensland, killed 35 people and left a $1billion+ damage bill. Like the times before however, you cannot keep an icon like the Regatta down, and so, the re launch imminent.

Today flood markers proudly stand at the front of the hotel and throughout, playing a starring role in the new patron experience at the hotel, and are sure to become talking and meeting points for residents and visitors alike.

The Protests
The Regatta Hotel hit the headlines in March, 1965 as one of the first sites of feminist insurgency, protesting against the law of the day denying women entry to the public bar area. On a Wednesday afternoon on March 31, two women, Merle Thornton (mother of Australian actress Sigrid Thornton) and Rosalie Bognor, entered the public bar of the Regatta Hotel and ordered two beers. When they were refused their beers and asked to leave, they promptly chained themselves to the foot rail of the bar. The rest, as they say, is history!

The police were quickly called, as they were breaking the law of the day for being in a public bar. There were 40 or so men in the public bar at the time and several of these bought the two women beers, while their husbands handed out pamphlets highlighting the discrimination Queensland women faced in hotels. When the police arrived and discovered there were no keys to the padlock, bolt cutters had to be found.

Merle and Rosalie attracted extensive television, radio and press coverage, but still the law preventing women the right to drink in a public bar let alone enter one was not changed for a few years. Women were however, allowed to drink on their own in the so called, Ladies Lounges of some hotels, where men could only enter if accompanied by a female.

Tribute will be paid to Merle and Rosalie in the Front Bar of the Regatta, with a plaque standing proud where the girls chained themselves, and salute given with drinks named in their honour and more. Their actions changed history.

Her Passions
Rowing – In the 1930s The -Head of the River' races were held on the Milton and Toowong reaches of the Brisbane River and the finishing line was opposite Sylvan Road, next to the Regatta Hotel. Rowing regattas on the river were still held in the 1950s with Coronation Drive being closed to traffic while a carnival atmosphere prevailed, especially at The Regatta! Tribute is paid to the Regatta's rowing heritage through the new design.

University - The Regatta Hotel in the 1960's, 70's and 80's became popular among university students, and today past students still return to the hotel, to relive the memories.

The Games - During the 1982 Commonwealth Games held in Brisbane, large crowds gathered at the Regatta Hotel to watch the marathon runners. Australia's Robert de Castella took the lead near the rock wall by the Regatta Hotel to the cheering crowd. Deeks time was a new Australian record but 4 seconds short of the Commonwealth record.

America's Cup - In September of 1983 when Australia II won the America's Cup, Police had to close the surrounding streets to try and control the large crowds of students and patrons alike celebrating this momentous Australian event at The Regatta.

It takes a lot of passion and a solid foundation to stay alive for 137 years.
The Regatta Hotel has both.

Importantly she also has an incredible amount of goodwill, loyalty and passion in Brisbane.
In 2012 we will see history rebuilt and begin again.

Regatta Hotel: 543 Coronation Drive Toowong Qld 4064
Phone: (07) 3871 9595