A 150-year-old Wagga pub will be partially demolished and turned into a shop space and housing if plans lodged to council are approved.
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The Home Tavern, at 142 Fitzmaurice Street, first opened on October 13, 1874, and has had many licensees over the years.
It was last listed for sale in May of 2018 for $1.75 million and with the listing came the announcement the pub's liquor licence would most likely be removed to allow the new owners to redevelop it into residential, retail, or office space.
After it was successfully purchased in 2020, the hotel has mostly sat vacant.
On Monday, a development application was submitted to Wagga City Council by Takajo Nominees proposing a $15.7 million transformation of the existing building.
The application outlines a proposal for a partial demolition of the existing buildings and a "proposed shop top mid-rise housing development".
The Home Tavern was the city's hub for live music for several years operating under previous owner Trevor Jones, and it is a venue that will forever hold fond memories in many Wagga musician's minds.
For more than a decade, The Home was home to the Bidgee Blues Club.
Club's vice president Wayne Jenkins said it was a venue like no other and will forever be missed, but he is welcoming change.
"From our point of view, it was a really good pub - we used the back room - in the sense that, it was probably one of the best sound systems, that Trev put in, in regional NSW," he said.
"There's been nothing like it since in Wagga.
"From the sound point of view, it was really good, even big artists like Russell Morrison love the room and loved playing their because of the high-quality sound system.
"We really miss it."
With plans set to breathe new life into the pub, Mr Jenkins is happy to see it garner a new purpose.
"Things change," he said.
"I'm glad something is happening - I'd hate to see it sit there for 10 years vacant, I'd rather see it used for something else."
Local historian Geoff Burch is of a similar mind in that breathing new life into the pub is better than it remaining vacant.
"It's just been sitting there - it's better that they find some sort of purpose for it," he said.
Mr Burch hopes that some of the heritage features on the building like its roof line is preserved in the process.