The Empire Hotel (also known as the Empire Tavern) is a historic building at 396

Princes Street, Dunedin Princes Street (often misspelt as "Princess Street") is a major street in Dunedin, the second largest city in the South Island of New Zealand. It runs south-southwest for two kilometres from The Octagon in the city centre to the Oval sports gro ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, located some 700 metres southwest of the city centre. Currently empty, it served as a

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

from the 1850s until the 1990s. It has a

New Zealand Historic Places Trust Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga (initially the National Historic Places Trust and then, from 1963 to 2014, the New Zealand Historic Places Trust) ( mi, Pouhere Taonga) is a Crown entity with a membership of around 20,000 people that advocate ...

category 1 listing.

History

The Empire Hotel has long played a major role in Dunedin culture. Originally established by J.W. FegerTod, F. (1984). ''Pubs galore: History of Dunedin hotels 1848-1984.'' Dunedin: Historical Publications. p. 47. and named ''The Queen's Arms'', it was built on its present site in 1858, only 10 years after the founding of Dunedin. At that time, before much of the harbourside land was

reclaimed Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new Terrestrial ecoregion, land from oceans, list of seas, seas, Stream bed, riverbeds or lak ...

, its site near the city's main wharf made it a central gathering place providing accommodation, food, and drink. When the

Otago Gold Rush The Otago Gold Rush (often called the Central Otago Gold Rush) was a gold rush that occurred during the 1860s in Central Otago, New Zealand. This was the country's biggest gold strike, and led to a rapid influx of foreign miners to the area – ...

broke, three years later, it became the central building in a thriving entertainment district. The current brick building, designed by Thomas Bedford Cameron,Thomas Bedford Cameron, architect
, ''builtindunedin.com''. Retrieved 17 January 2015. replaced the original structure in 1879. The name was changed to the Union Hotel in 1890, and then to the Empire Hotel in 1898. The tavern became a pivotal venue for the development of Dunedin's distinctive music scene of the 1980s, known worldwide as the

Dunedin sound The Dunedin sound was a style of indie pop music created in the southern New Zealand university city of Dunedin in the early 1980s. Characteristics According to Matthew Bannister, Dunedin sound "was typically marked by the use of droning or j ...

. Under the ownership of John and Maureen Simpson, the upstairs bar became a principal venue for performances by such bands as

The Chills The Chills are a New Zealand rock band that formed in Dunedin in 1980. The band is essentially the continuing project of singer/songwriter Martin Phillipps, who is the group's sole constant member. For a time in the 1990s, the act was billed a ...

The Verlaines The Verlaines are a New Zealand rock band from Dunedin. Formed in 1981 by Graeme Downes, Craig Easton, Anita Pillai, Phillip Higham and Greg Kerr, the band went through multiple line-ups. History The band was named after French poet Paul Ver ...

, and

The Clean The Clean was a New Zealand indie rock band that formed in Dunedin in 1978. They have been described as the most influential band to come from the Flying Nun label, which recorded many artists associated with the "Dunedin sound".Schmidt, Andr ...

.Rudd, A.
Empire one of six top Historic Places listings
, ''

Otago Daily Times The ''Otago Daily Times'' (ODT) is a newspaper published by Allied Press Ltd in Dunedin, New Zealand. The ''ODT'' is one of the country's four main daily newspapers, serving the southern South Island with a circulation of around 26,000 and a c ...

'' online edition, 9 May 2012. Retrieved 20 January 2015. Even now, several years after the closure of the venue, the Empire is still regarded by many as the home of the Dunedin sound:

"It is to this city what the
Cavern Club The Cavern Club is a nightclub on Mathew Street, Liverpool, England. The Cavern Club opened in 1957 as a jazz club, later becoming a centre of the rock and roll scene in Liverpool in the late 50s and early 1960s. The club became closely assoc ...
is to Liverpool in terms of what it helped spawn, even if compared to the Beatles neither the bands who played in it, or the venue itself, is a household name…it cannot be underestimated the role the Empire played in nurturing a local music scene that is acknowledged within alternative music circles around the world." (Dr.
Graeme Downes The Verlaines are a New Zealand rock band from Dunedin. Formed in 1981 by Graeme Downes, Craig Easton, Anita Pillai, Phillip Higham and Greg Kerr, the band went through multiple line-ups. History The band was named after French poet Paul Ve ...
, founder of
The Verlaines The Verlaines are a New Zealand rock band from Dunedin. Formed in 1981 by Graeme Downes, Craig Easton, Anita Pillai, Phillip Higham and Greg Kerr, the band went through multiple line-ups. History The band was named after French poet Paul Ver ...
)

The building

The Empire Hotel is part of a historic precinct containing numerous Victorian and

Edwardian The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...

buildings, several of which have NZHPT classification. Rising three storeys, for many years it had a plain, plastered frontage with a metal fire escape. Two arched entrance doors stand at either end of the ground-level frontage. The hotel was originally built with more decoration on its façade, but much of this was removed during the late 20th century. Many of the external features were replaced or rebuilt during major renovation work in the 2010s, including the restoration of columns, imposts, and cornices, plus an added roof

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). Whe ...

including a

balustrade A baluster is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its con ...

. The exterior fire escape, which had become dangerous, was also removed at this time. Several of the building's interior features and fittings were formerly part of the now largely demolished

Cargill's Castle The ruins of Cargill's Castle stand on a promontory overlooking the Pacific Ocean in New Zealand's southern city of Dunedin. It is one of about ten castles in New Zealand, the other one in Otago being nearby Larnach Castle. More a castle in name t ...

References

{{coord, -45.8802, 170.5, region:NZ-OTA_type:landmark, display=title Hotels in Dunedin Heritage New Zealand Category 1 historic places in Otago Dunedin Sound Hotel buildings completed in 1879 Hotels established in 1858 1858 establishments in New Zealand 1870s architecture in New Zealand Music venues in New Zealand