The Canobolas To Regain Its Former Glory
Sydney Morning Herald
Monday June 13, 1988
THE new owner of the Hotel Canobolas at Orange, former Gold Coast bookmaker Jack Meekin, has big plans for its restoration.
The Canobolas, for years the top hotel in country NSW and the flagship of the Tooheys' fleet, lost most of its regular business in two ownership changes since 1981.
When it again came on the market this year, Mr Meekin's family company, Meekin Enterprises Pty Ltd, snapped it up for $1.2 million.
"I've been in hotels most of my life and buying the Canobolas has given me the opportunity to get all my family involved," he said.
"I'll be the licensee, my wife, Maureen, will look after the 100- room house and dining facilities, my eldest daughter, Becky Woodbridge, will do the book work, her husband, Philip, will be cellarman and my other daughter, Debbie, will be in charge of reception and functions.
"My son, John, arrives from the Gold Coast soon to take over a specialised cocktail bar on the first floor.
"So if that's not a true family business, I don't know what is."
Mr Meekin, who is also a former chairman of the Seagulls Rugby League Club at Tweed Heads, still holds a 60 per cent interest in the Metropole Hotel at Lismore, which is one of the leading hotels on the northern rivers.
He is confident he can return the Canobolas to its former glory, and$250,000 in renovations to three bars, a bistro, dining room and reception are under way.
The drive-in bottle shop, which proved to be a bonanza and put the Canobolas on top of liquor sales in Orange when Tooheys owned it, has been reopened with three lanes.
The guest rooms will also be upgraded to a much higher standard.
Mr Meekin wants to organise holiday packages to the hotel for senior citizens, and has other promotional schemes up his sleeve.
He hopes to be able to increase trade dramatically.
The Canobolas was built by Tooheys in 1939 and has been the Orange home for royalty, prime ministers, senior politicians and government officials, ambassadors, VIPs, top entertainers and sporting people.
It was also popular for civic dinners, conventions, weddings and meetings.
Tooheys sold the Canobolas in 1981 to Bryants Family Hotels Pty Ltd, but the company ran into financial difficulties about two years later and had to sell off most of its property.
A company headed by former Orange man Mr Terry Cutcliffe bought the Canobolas in August 1983, for $1.25 million.
Mr Cutcliffe introduced big changes but did not have the finance to carry them out, and cost-cutting measures resulted in further loss of business.
His next move was to change to strata title and sell off some of the ground-floor shops. He also planned to upgrade the first- and second-floor rooms into motel type units, but this did not go ahead.
Mr Cutcliffe closed the drive-in bottle shop, upstairs dining room and bar
His company, Rehigu Pty Ltd, also ran into financial difficulties and it eventually went into liquidation still owing about $1.1 million, even after the proceeds from the sale of the Canobolas.
© 1988 Sydney Morning Herald