Corner of Arthur & Alexander St, Surry Hills

G’day, Charles Touma here, and today I’m on the corner of Arthur and Alexander, in the magnificent Surry Hills, to talk about the amazing story of the building on the corner, which once included the pub that never opened. Now, the story of the pub that never opened starts with a man named Tom Phelps, who built a very successful business from horse drawn buses. He had three vehicles, one named the City of Sydney, which could carry 37 passengers, the Rob Roy, which could carry 20 passengers, as well as the Invincible, which you could also carry 20 passengers. In 1865, his bus empire was thriving, enabling him to indulge in his other commercial passion, which was construction. Over the next decade or so, he built 17 houses on and around what was then known as Jamieson Street, but was renamed Phelps Street in recognition of him.

He also built seven houses on Arthur Street, and four on Bourke. In 1865 however, he took on his biggest project to date, building a hotel on this corner which was named the Pembroke Castle Hotel, as he’d grown up very close to the Pembroke Castle in Wales, before migrating to Sydney. After Phelps and his wife passed away, the pub was sold for 1,750 pounds in 1887 to Mr Bryant, who changed the name to the Athletic Club Hotel, and then sold it on to Mr A Friedman for 2,600 pounds. He installed a publican, Jim Kelly to run the pub, but it fell into disrepair and the police closed it down. Kelly undertook a refurbishment costing 600 pounds, and then was allowed to re-open. But, he died mysteriously, falling off a boat and drowning. His wife took over and used the popular game of quoits to develop a regular league, with players competing on an adjacent piece of land. However, the reputation of the hotel went downhill during the 1890s, while they were selling alcohol to underage children and trading illegally on Sundays.

In 1921, the pub was under the ownership of George and Victoria Allen, who decided to demolish it and rebuild it. However, only three months after the redevelopment was completed, the New South Wales government declared that 46 licenced venues would be closed, including the newly rebuilt Athletic Hotel, here. The owners were given compensation of 2,750 pounds, and the contents of the pub that never opened were sold at auction in 1924. The property was eventually redeveloped into the current apartment building we see here today. Now I’ve been selling in Surry Hills for almost 20 years, and I’m really passionate about this area. My name’s Charles Touma. My office on Thurlow Street is always open for you to come in and have a chat.