Murphy's Law Pub in Drury will be demolished to create space for two new fast-food restaurants in a new subdivision.
A South Auckland pub is set to be demolished in order to make way for a fast-food restaurant in what has become one of the fastest-developing areas in the country.
Murphy’s Law Pub, housed in a 96-year-old building, will soon find its walls crashing down as the Drury location turns into a large subdivision. The pub served its last pint on the 31st of August. Its adjoining sports bar will still remain open for another few weeks.
The building first opened in 1929 as the Ye Jolly Farmer Inn, replacing what was the Drury Hotel after it burned down in a fire. It was said to be built on the same lines as many of the inns to be met within the Old Country.
Locals were disappointed at the decision to tear down the pub. One Drury resident said it was a place where the community could gather, and that there was nowhere else like it in the community.
One said it was if the heart of Drury was gone.
Many were angry that it had been torn down to make space for a shopping complex, where the local say it’s unlikely there will be any community spirit at all.
One local business owner said Murphy’s Law Pub was a local hub that brought the neighbourhood together.
The site’s conditional sale is now underway, and what happens next is at the discretion of the new owner. Auckland Council granted consent in May to demolish the existing buildings, which will now be turned into six new lots.
Fast-food franchisor Restaurant Brands has entered into an agreement to buy one of the lots for a new KFC drive-thru restaurant. Another consent agreement from McDonald’s New Zealand indicates it also plans to build a restaurant on the site.
Gull New Zealand has also applied for consent to open a 24-hour unstaffed service station as well.
In order to capture some of the Murphy’s Law Pub’s heritage, the owners plan to recover windows, doors and other fixtures from the site and install them in their next pub. The building currently has no heritage listing, and therefore no legal right to be protected.
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