Toowoomba’s Gladstone Hotel demolished

And so one of Toowoomba’s landmark sites, the old Gladstone Hotel building was demolished on Sunday morning.

The plan is to replace it with a massive short-term accommodation, hospitality and retail precinct.

Kenneth Wagner, who is organising the demolition jobs, said that the bulk of the work would be done promptly.

"We've still got a long way to go, but it's a milestone. It's a 100-year-old pub, and a bit of an eyesore in the CBD," Wagner told the Toowoomba Chronicle.

"We've been on that site working since Wednesday.

"We'll have the façade and demolitions finished today, and the site cleaned up within the next week."

Watching the place get demolished had a big impact on onlookers and former patrons of the pub.

One was Danny Murphy.

He had been a regular patron of the pub before he moved away.

But when he heard what was happening, he came down to take photos of the demolition as a reminder.

"I've only just moved up to Toowoomba this year and I thought that when I'd get here I'd see the Gladstone again, but when I did it was already closed up," Murphy told the Toowoomba Chronicle.

"It's very sad - I thought I'd come down and take some photos of it. I used to drink here when I was 34."

The Toowoomba Regional Council slapped a number of conditions Mr Wagner’s project when they met last Wednesday in a special meeting. The special conditions related to parking availability and access onto Kwong Sang Walk.

But Wagner said it had a lot to do with council’s systemic issues of red tape and bureaucracy.

“What this meeting highlights is there is a myriad of systemic issues within the TRC bureaucracy that need to be sorted as a matter of urgency, if we expect development to keep prospering at a rate of knots," Wagner told the Toowoomba Chronicle.

"It's heavily conditioned, which will take a bit of work but we're confident we can work through those conditions with the council.

"It is (drawn out) - after that meeting, I don't see us having a (full) approval until early next year.

"It's costing us a hell of a lot of money, even the holding costs on that site is enormous, whilst we're waiting on action from the councillors."

11th December 2017