The Great Western Hotel is about to embark on renovations with owner Matthew Hardman keen on restoring the historic verandahs that were a feature of the building.
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The Tooths Brewing Company inspectors' records, now held by the Australian National University and the Noel Butlin Archive, show the Peisley Street pub has undergone change over the years.
Built in 1880 over the road from the railway station opened just three years earlier, the pub is one of the very few in Orange to have kept its name throughout its history.
In 1930 the inspector said it was "one of the most up to date hotels in the town."
An inspector recorded the two-storey hotel had just been painted in 1930.
Tooths were deeply involved with the hotel and the reports on this hotel are far more detailed, particularly on financial arrangements, than any other of the Orange pubs inspected.
In 1930 the inspector said it was "one of the most up to date hotels in the town".
However, the opinion had changed by 1947 when inspector John Hellyer made a detailed report which described the layout and "convenienceness" of the rooms as "bad" and in need of change.
"An old rambling building which in my opinion would be a rebuilding job in our hands," he wrote.
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"Interior of hotel is fair but will require a thorough renovation in the next two years."
Modernisation included removing the verandahs which were gone by 1957 as the photos showed however the exact date is not recorded in the reports.
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