One of Sydney’s remaining dive bars, Bar Century will be closing its doors this Sunday, 14 February after many years of serving Sydney’s late night crowds.
Located above Hungry Jacks on George Street in the CBD, the venue was renowned as a favourite late night hangout for many members of the hospitality industry, a number of which have taken to social media to air their grievances in relation to the closure.
“Many memories shared here with the old Tetsyua’s crew back in the day,” Merivale chef Dan Hong wrote on Facebook.
“Great memories of Sydney life,” wrote chef Jowett Yu (ex Ms. G’s) on Facebook.
Best known for selling four dollar drinks, the venue opened a youth hostel above the bar a number of years back which – at the time – secured a steady stream of revenue.
A statement on the venue’s Facebook page reads:
“Hello you dirty party animals! I'm sure you've all heard the rumours and unfortunately they're true; Bar Century is closing its doors for the very last time on the 14th of February.
"We've had some good times, some bad smells, and lost our left shoe on the sticky dancefloor, and it'll be a sad day to know the reliable BC will be gone for good. In typical fashion however we'll be going out with a bang, with a whole bunch of DJs and live acts through the next 8 days, and as always $4 house beer, wine and spirits all day every day. Come say goodbye, have one last dance, and lets see off our favourite bar in true Bar Century style.”
The closure follows a recent report from the City of Sydney which found that late night foot traffic in Sydney’s CBD and a number of its surrounding precincts have continued to decline over the last few years, resulting in lower levels of anti-social behaviour.
The report suggests that the introduction of the city’s lockout laws in February 2014 may have helped to reduce levels of anti-social behaviour and alcohol-related violence.
The lockout laws were announced in late January 2014 and rushed through parliament following the death of Sydney teenager Daniel Christie, with the aim to reducing the level of alcohol-fuelled violence across the city’s nightclub hotspots.
The legislation requires bottle shops to close their doors at 10pm and prevents patrons from entering a venue for the first time after 1.30am. The lockout laws also prevent pubs and clubs from serving alcohol to patrons after 3am.
Since the introduction of the laws, a number of hospitality businesses have had to close their doors, including Hugo’s Lounge, which was placed into voluntary administration in July 2015 following a 60 percent drop in revenue since 2012.
At the time, owner Dave Evans said “We said it [the lockout laws] would destroy business, we said it would destroy staff, and here we are.”