'It's a sad day': Gore's Longford Tavern demolished

Wednesday, 15 March 2023

The demolition of Gore’s Longford Tavern and Function Centre has begun

Upstairs some of New Zealand’s biggest country music stars played their hits, while downstairs the drinks kept flowing over the bar.

The demolition of Gore’s Longford Tavern and Function Centre has begun to make way for a Kainga Ora housing development, and it’s likely some of the pub’s former regular clientele will be crying into their beers.

The Longy, as it was known by locals, opened in 1965 and was owned by the Gore Country Music Club, with the downstairs bar leased by the Mataura Licencing Trust.

“I think it’s a really sad day, but it's a sad day when any building in Gore comes down,’’ Gore Country Music Club president Julie Mitchell said.

* Gore bar and restaurant saved from closure

The Longford Tavern site in Gore has been purchased by Kainga Ora.

* Mataura Licensing Trust in 'crisis mode' as abuse from customers leads to staff shortages

A crane was used to lift Gore's famous Gold Guitar on to its permanent stand at the Gore Country Music Club's clubrooms at the Longford Function Centre in 2013. (File photo)

“On their last visit to Gore the Waratahs said they remembered playing up there and there would be a lot of well-known musicians who had performed there too,’’ she said.

Barry Saunders, the Oxo Cubans and Tami Neilson had all performed upstairs, but it was also used by the Southern Shears every year, and was a venue for everything from boxing bouts to weddings, she said.

“In its day there was a mezzanine floor up there that the bands performed on and there was about three bars all segregated off. It was pretty good, it’s been a great venue for all sorts of events.’’

Patsy Rigger's photo, taken when she won the first New Zealand Gold Guitar Award, is the first in a long line of winners on the wall at the Gore Country Music Club's clubrooms. The clubrooms are being demolished to make way for a Kainga Ora housing development. (File photo)

Ongoing maintenance on the building and the large site were the reasons for selling, and the club was still looking for a new venue to call its own, Mitchell said.

“There’s a lot of memories gone with it, but we look forward to seeing what becomes of the site.’’

Mataura Licencing Trust general manager Mark Paterson engraved his initials in the concrete outside the bottle store at the Longford.

Mataura Licensing Trust general manager Mark Paterson was the publican from 1989 until 1992. (File photo)

He ran the pub from 1989 until 1992, and lived in the house out the back when he was the publican.

“It was a great pub. Shit, we were doing $1million a year in there, we consistently had 100 kegs out every weekend, it was a massive operation,’’ he said.

What was the downstairs bar at Gore’s Longford Tavern and Function Centre, which is being demolished to make way for a Kianga Ora housing development.

“It was a rough pub but it had some great clients.’’

But drink-driving and hospitality rules and preloading drinks at home changed the booze barns like the Longford, he said.

Ryal Bush Transport project manager Quintin Winsloe says about 90% of the demolition waste from the old pub will be recycled.

The Mataura Licencing Trust closed the pub in 2021, blaming the Covid-19 pandemic, a lack of staff and falling revenue.

“The operation didn’t serve food and that’s really fundamental to making it work now. It’s like everything, if you don’t move with the times you get left behind.

“I’m a bit nostalgic to see it go, but from a Trust point of view it was losing $100,000 a year so it was time to let it go.’’

The hotel hasn’t been without its drama, with a burglary in 2019 where three boxes of Jim Beam cans, a bottle of spirits and the cash till were stolen.

In 2018 customer Ray Waite suffered a major heart attack while drinking in the bar and dropped to the floor unconscious. His workmates from the Mataura Valley Milk plant at McNab had used the bar's defibrillator to resuscitate him.

Ryal Bush Transport project manager Quintin Winsloe said the demolition of the building would take about four weeks and the company aimed to recycle about 90% of the waste materials.

There had been a steady stream of people driving past to look at the demolition since it began.

“There’s been a lot of onlookers at the fence, but people are pleased to see it's not standing stagnant any more,’’ he said.

“I feel like I’ve missed out now, not having been to the pub here.’’

Kainga Ora regional director Otago and Southland Kerrie Young said the agency purchased the 7682m2 site in east Gore mid-last year.

“It’s fantastic that we’re now at the demolition stage so we can get the site cleared and be one step closer to delivering new, warm and dry homes to Gore, on a special site that has been such a big part of the community for many years,’’ she said.

“Plans to build around 20 homes are currently being drawn up and applications for resource and building consents will be lodged in due course.’’