STEVE Weavel has put Inglewood’s Empire State Hotel up for sale ... on doctor’s orders.
The veteran publican is selling the heritage hotel with or without a licence and hopes for a sale soon.
“The doctor has told me I’ve got to stop being on my feet for hours every day,” Steve said at the weekend. “And if I don’t, I’ll end up crippled.”
“I have had terrible trouble walking for a while and everyone has seen the difficulty I now have even going from one end of the bar to the other.”
Steve has owned the town’s only hotel since 2017 and seen a second pub close in that time and battled through the challenges of COVID that restricted trading.
“We did takeaways in the early days of COVID restrictions in the months when like all businesses, things were pretty tough,” he said.
According to Steve, government taxes were an increasing bone of contention for small business owners.
“There’s bigger land tax bills and now the new emergency services tax ... every new tax or tax increase makes it harder. My (council) rates went up $2000 this year,”
“The Government is out of touch completely with the challenges small businesses face and seems to be just treating people with contempt.
“We have a state that is really bankrupt but surely there are better ways to recoup money instead of making it harder for the man on the street.”
Steve said the Empire State Hotel had regular patrons and was also popular with trades people passing through town.
“There’s also potential for the accommodation in the upstairs part of the building,” he said,
The hotel opened in a timber building in 1861 that was destroyed by fire a decade later.
Today’s hotel was built in 1873  and in 1927 the present balcony was added in honour of Inglewood’s first “Back to”.
The 1991 Shire of Korong Heritage and Conservation Study says the facade is stuccoed with ashlar imprinting while the sides of the building reveal Flemish bonded brickwork. The bricks appear to be locally made.
“Visually it is significant as one of the first buildings seen as a visitor enters the main street from the south. It is in close proximity to five other double storey buildings in this block and their combined height gives an impression of a narrow, 19th century lane and serves to direct attention further down the street,” the study recorded.
Steve said he had the building for sale with or without the liquor licence.
“I hope a buyer will want to keep the hotel open. It’s the only place in town where people can come after work or at weekends and enjoy time relaxing with friends,” said the veteran publican.