Save the Cook!
January 18th, 2013 at 2:00 pm by David FarrarVaughan Elder at the ODT reports:
The future of historic Dunedin student watering hole the Captain Cook is unclear.
DB Breweries’ lease of the bar runs out at the end of June, and the operations manager of Cook Brothers Bars, which subleases the bar, believed the bar would most likely close when the lease ran out.
”I would find it hard to believe that anyone would [take over the bar],” Guy Randall said.
However, Noel Kennedy, one of three directors of Orari Street Properties Investments Ltd, which owns the building, said there was no question of the Cook closing, ”and we will be fighting to make sure that never happens under our watch”. Various parties were being spoken to about taking over the lease, including DB, but ”nothing has been finalised at this point”, he said. …
The Captain Cook Tavern, known as the Cook, was established in 1860 and stands as the last of the three main student pubs in North Dunedin. The Gardens Tavern and the Bowler were earlier bought by the University of Otago, for conversion into academic facilities.
Dunedin would not be the same without the Cook. Oh, so many hours spent there. I hope it survives.
January 18th, 2013 at 2:38 pm
First Gardies and now the Cook?!
Fuck.
Why would anyone go to Otago now?
Vote:January 18th, 2013 at 2:45 pm
Oh, get over it
No, really – something else will take its place, the free market demands it remember?
Guys of my bosses’ generation all have Dunedin student drinking stories about The Gardies, The Cook was nothing in their day.
But fast-forward a decade, and my school mates who went to Otago around the turn of the century have no idea what The Gardies was; The Cook was where it was at.
Unless there are specific vomit stains on the floor of the Cook that you’re emotionally attached to, or you lost your virginity in a particular stall of the toilets or something, I don’t know why you’d feel a need to “Save the Cook…”
Vote:January 18th, 2013 at 2:45 pm
Given the landlord is keen to have a pub in the building (the reason the Gardies and the other closed are because the uni bought the property and closed down), then there will be a pub there, as long as it is profitable.
Given the formula : Students + student allowances + beer = $$$ I suspect there will be a pub there going forward.
My only question is why did Guy make that comment; was he not profitable?
Vote:January 18th, 2013 at 2:54 pm
What is this “Gardies” heresy? The place was called the Gardens not the bloody “gardies”.
As the Cook, got turfed out when i was 17 mind you I was in school uniform. And spent alot of time there during my time at OU. I think it will keep on going as the wowzers at the Uni have made Dunedin north a pretty dry and dusty area.
Vote:January 18th, 2013 at 3:21 pm
In 1982 I was on the top floor when the underage squad did a raid. I was three weeks away from my 20th birthday, so I climbed out a window and went down the fire escape. I got away but three of my mates weren’t so lucky and all received a $30 fine.
Vote:January 18th, 2013 at 6:30 pm
I was at the gardies last evening b4 the gardies closed. God that was a great place. Oh the lightness of being of an evening when heading down there for a pie and a pint.You could even smoke in bars then.
Vote:Anyone frequent the Jailhouse?
January 18th, 2013 at 7:52 pm
“Anyone frequent the Jailhouse?”
Once or twice- very,very late at night (when the Gardies and Cook had closed)
Vote:Maybe we met Monique?
January 18th, 2013 at 7:56 pm
I popped into the Cook a few years ago- They had fucking wrecked the place, turned downstairs into some kind of ‘nightclub’.
One of the charms of the place was getting sloshed in the downstairs sportsbar, playing pool, listening to Nirvana on the jukebox and popping through occasionally for a sneaky punt on the horses…The nightclub upstairs called you later in the evening (when a young man was looking for some female company)..
RIP Cook.
Vote:January 18th, 2013 at 8:07 pm
Oh the lightness of being of an evening when heading down there for a pie and a pint.
Or heading anywhere else for a pie and a pint, for that matter.
Vote:January 18th, 2013 at 8:51 pm Vote:
January 18th, 2013 at 9:02 pm
@RRM
Is it really a proper free market though when the University buys these properties up (such as Gardies)?
Vote: