Iconic Green Park Hotel in Sydney is sold to St Vincent's Hospital and will be transformed into a mental health facility as patrons pay tribute to the 127-year-old drinking hole
Sydneysiders have been left distraught after one of the city's most iconic pubs was sold to a hospital to be used for patient care.
The Green Park Hotel in inner-city Darlinghurst will close its doors on December 20 after its owners finalised the sale of the historic venue for between $5million to $10million to St Vincent's Hospital on Monday.
The 127-year-old pub, known to locals as the 'Greeny' or simply the 'GP', will be converted into a mental health space by hospital administrators.
Fans of the popular drinking hole were gutted by the sudden announcement though - with many asking why the hospital had to buy up such a beloved community landmark.
The Green Park Hotel in inner-city Darlinghurst will close its doors for the final time next month after being sold to St Vincent's Hospital
Many fans of the popular drinking hole were left asking why the hospital had to buy up such a beloved community landmark
The 127-year-old pub in Sydney's inner-city is known to locals as the 'Greeny' or simply the 'GP'
'Am so gutted!' One punter wrote on social media. 'There are empty shops up and down Oxford Street - why take our pub?'
'Could St Vincent's not find an empty premises on Oxford Street,' another said.
Others reacting to the announcement said the closure was a 'tragedy'.
'The GP has been at the heart of our community for so long and is irreplaceable. I'm gutted,' one person wrote.
The venue is well-known in the area for its link to the LGBTQI community.
Owners Solotel said they hoped to give the pub a suitable send-off in its final weeks.
St Vincent's executives said they planned to preserve the building's architectural heritage.
'The Green Park is rightly regarded as a fine example of Federation architecture, built in 1893, when the area was predominately working class,' St Vincent's Health Network Chief Executive Professor Anthony M. Schembri AM said.
Pubgoers pictured at the historic venue. St Vincent's executives said they planned to preserve the building's architectural heritage
Fans reacting to the announcement said the closure of the pub - which has close ties to the LGBTI community - was a 'tragedy'
'In more recent decades, it has become regarded as a particularly inclusive watering hole, especially for our LGBTQI community.'
The new mental health and community centre will be partly subsidised by the New South Wales government's Towards Zero Suicides initiative.
St Vincent's clinical director of mental health Dr Nick Babidge said executives planned to turn the site into an alcohol-free mental health support facility.