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After months of talks and numerous delays, the fate of The Imperial Hotel will be decided at a council meeting next Monday.
The Imperial Hotel’s owner, Shadd Danesi, wants town planners to approve a number of measures which includes capacity for approximately 550-plus patrons in the Cellar Bar, approximately 288 patrons for the Cabaret Bar and the installation of a giant stiletto on the roof.
But following months of consultation, City of Sydney Council will make recommendations that fall short of the owner’s requests, despite Danesi meeting all building codes and safety requirements.
SX understands that those recommendations include approval for approximately 300-plus patrons in the Cellar Bar – far short of the 550-plus sought – and approval for approximately 188 patrons in the Cabaret Bar – much less than that 288 sought.
SX understands that council will also recommend plans for the stiletto to be scrapped, and that councillors will vote on these measures on Monday, June 23.
Danesi said the recommendations were disappointing and their approval would be “quite a blow”.
“If the numbers are limited, then I feel that is detrimental, not only to the hotel but also the residents surrounding the premises,” Danesi told SX. “For instance, if they deny me 260 people, which I can get into the venue, I would have a queue of 260 people outside.”
Danesi added that despite meeting all building codes, safety standards and regulations, he believes the council planners are “applying a non-existing formula as to the ratio of the numbers to the floor space in the cellar bar” to reach their numbers. The council also wants to limit the capacity because it wants to control the number of people moving in and out of the premises, Danesi said.
“But even then that’s illogical reasoning when you can have 260 people inside rather than outside in the queue,” Danesi said. “So when you have those 260 people inside, you’re not going to have 260 people leaving at any one time. What you would have instead are patrons dwindling out, with a pre-determined destination in place, because they are leaving voluntarily, rather than 260 waiting to go inside, growing impatient and subjecting them to anti-gay violence, which may occur on Erskineville Road, bringing the hotel into disrepute. There’s no need to do this.
“It’s not in the interest of the people queuing to be there, it’s not in the hotel’s interest, and it’s not in the resident’s interests.”
Danesi also expressed disappointment at council’s recommendations on the stiletto, saying it had immense cultural significance.
“The stiletto is an iconic symbol of what The Imperial Hotel stands for and the GLBTQ community. To deny that aspect of the cultural significance I don’t think is correct.”
Danesi is calling on Lord Mayor Clover Moore to support the venue and for members of the community to get behind The Imperial Hotel.
“Email Clover on
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because she’s the Mayor and head of the council and email Councillor John McInerney on
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because he’s the one who’s had the resident’s meetings and he understands the issues.”
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