Major renovations get underway at Romano's Hotel

The hotel's owner Matt Oates said the crane had been hired to remove an outdated elevator which has carried patrons between the hotel's three floors since 1947.

However, the obsolete elevator will not be abandoned and lost to history thanks to Mr Oates' foresight.

"When we pull out the old lift we want to keep it and make it something of a feature and preserve a piece of history," he said.

"The motor in the lift weighs a couple of tonnes, so we'll try to do something with that too.

"We plan to renovate the former machinery room on the third floor and make a space for a bar or a tailored dining space - it's the square parapet above the main entrance.

"It's about 50 to 60 square metres and it's all under cover, so we're hoping to create maybe a bit of a destination and it could be used for private functions."

The removal work was scheduled to last just one day but the crane will return on August 23 to insert the new elevator.

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"Because we're updating all the accommodation we thought it was time to update it and make sure everything is right on the upper floors," Mr Oates said.

"We're doing it to focus more on the guest experience.

"Now we'll have a reliable solution to get the guests on to the first and second floors to improve that guest experience.

"It's not only the biggest crane I think but it'll be the biggest bill, but you've got to go big and go hard and get it done.

"But not to worry if it takes more than one day to do it as it's not easy to replace 80 years of history."

Mr Oates said he engaged a company which builds elevators entirely in Australia.

"We did that rather than import one from China or elsewhere because of Covid and the time restraints," Mr Oates said.

"The company is based in Gloucester and with all the virus shutdowns in Sydney their job sheet has got significantly smaller because they can't go there.

"It's pretty well situated to push us forward and get it done quicker.

"We were supposed to be getting the new one at the end of September but now it's getting done on August 23."

Mr Oates believes there would be minimal impact on the hotel while the elevator was being replaced.

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