Violet Fashion by Mindy
10-31-2008, 03:38 AM
Police close Lucky Country early
BY MARTIN DINNEEN
30/10/2008 10:54:00 PM
NEWCASTLE'S iconic Lucky Country Hotel has been closed early by police who feared a weekend closing party could quite literally be a riot.Manager of the popular inner-city music venue Sandi Stocks was served with a local court order yesterday morning to close the hotel from noon yesterday until 5pm on Monday.
The alternative watering hole was due to host Halloween-themed concerts tonight and tomorrow night to mark its last weekend of trading.
Inspector Brad Taylor from Newcastle City police command said police and the Office of Liquor and Gaming made the application to the court over fears the send-off would get out of control.
"We had concerns about some of the activities they had planned for the weekend and so did shopkeepers in the area," Inspector Taylor said.
"There was some talk that some of the activities planned for the closing down party were undesirable."
Ms Stocks said the move would only anger loyal patrons who had planned to bid their favourite venue goodbye over the coming two nights.
"I'm scared now because so many people were looking forward to it," she said.
Ms Stocks said she had taken special precautions to ensure patron safety on the final two nights of trade, tripling security staff and hiring metal detectors to scan people as they entered.
"I am now stuck trying to recoup losses," she said.
"No one warned us."
Staff at the hotel said they believed the police had acted because some posts on a Facebook group site called "The Lucky Country Hotel was my 2nd home from 1995-2002" mentioned rioting at the closing party.
"You ruined it for everyone who wanted to go back for one last time and celebrate the friendships they formed and the good times they had at our local," another post on the site says.
The infamous 1979 Star Hotel riot took place on that Newcastle venue's final night of trade when 4000 patrons turned on police after they moved in to shut the premises.
(http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/police-close-lucky-country-early/1348061.aspx#)
(http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/police-close-lucky-country-early/1348061.aspx#)
http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/police-close-lucky-country-early/1348061.aspx
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BY MARTIN DINNEEN
30/10/2008 10:54:00 PM
NEWCASTLE'S iconic Lucky Country Hotel has been closed early by police who feared a weekend closing party could quite literally be a riot.Manager of the popular inner-city music venue Sandi Stocks was served with a local court order yesterday morning to close the hotel from noon yesterday until 5pm on Monday.
The alternative watering hole was due to host Halloween-themed concerts tonight and tomorrow night to mark its last weekend of trading.
Inspector Brad Taylor from Newcastle City police command said police and the Office of Liquor and Gaming made the application to the court over fears the send-off would get out of control.
"We had concerns about some of the activities they had planned for the weekend and so did shopkeepers in the area," Inspector Taylor said.
"There was some talk that some of the activities planned for the closing down party were undesirable."
Ms Stocks said the move would only anger loyal patrons who had planned to bid their favourite venue goodbye over the coming two nights.
"I'm scared now because so many people were looking forward to it," she said.
Ms Stocks said she had taken special precautions to ensure patron safety on the final two nights of trade, tripling security staff and hiring metal detectors to scan people as they entered.
"I am now stuck trying to recoup losses," she said.
"No one warned us."
Staff at the hotel said they believed the police had acted because some posts on a Facebook group site called "The Lucky Country Hotel was my 2nd home from 1995-2002" mentioned rioting at the closing party.
"You ruined it for everyone who wanted to go back for one last time and celebrate the friendships they formed and the good times they had at our local," another post on the site says.
The infamous 1979 Star Hotel riot took place on that Newcastle venue's final night of trade when 4000 patrons turned on police after they moved in to shut the premises.
(http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/police-close-lucky-country-early/1348061.aspx#)
(http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/police-close-lucky-country-early/1348061.aspx#)
http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/police-close-lucky-country-early/1348061.aspx
(javascript:changeFontSize('story',-1);)