Transformation

Even though we are now 16 months out from the floods that hit in January 2011, there are still some businesses that haven't opened.  There are a few that have just closed their doors forever, but some are still undergoing renovations.  All establishments need to be certified as moisture and contaminant free before being allowed to start renovations, so there have been lots of delays while waiting for buildings to dry out, get inspected and get the okay to start rebuilding.  For heritage buildings, the wait is even longer as there are a number of regulations for renovating older buildings.

The Regatta Hotel has occupied the same site on the east side of the Brisbane River since it opened in 1874, in what is now Toowong.  The lobby of the hotel (it is now only a pub but is still called a hotel) is lined with photos dating back to the first little building on this site.  The pub has grown over the years and is now a lovely Queenslander style building, with metal lacework and wide verandahs.  Even though the building has changed and evolved over time there is one constant in many of the photographs: a flood. 

The Regatta Hotel

Flood levels over the years, 2011 not yet posted.  We think it will be near the fluted tops of the columns



Photo inside the pub of the 1974 flood...note that the photo is water damaged!

The Regatta was hard hit again by the 2011 flood.  The upper level of the pub opened within just a couple of weeks of the flood, but the ground level opened only a few weeks ago.  Whenever we went to the pub for a drink we would peak through the window that had been cut in the stairway to check out the progress.  For the longest time, all we could see was a skeleton of a building, with only floor joists open to the foundation.  We really weren't too sure that anything was happening at all.  Boy, were we wrong!  The people in charge obviously know how to take advantage having to rip everything out of building and start over from scratch.  The new lounge is beautiful and modern, and always crowded.  It is great to see that the pub is back.  The boatshed restaurant is still not open, but we can't wait to see how it turns out.  If the transformation of the lounge is anything to go by, it will be well worth the wait!

During renovations

The Regatta transformed!