‘Twas a sad day for the OGs of Dunedin on April 2nd when iconic student watering hole Starters Bar was demolished. An excavator took to the walls of the pre-loved pub, tearing it limb from limb. Many past Starters enthusiasts looked on, commiserating over shared memories from the former, and final, student bar. Now just rubble lies in its stead. Waaaaah.
Starters functioned as a great place for students to enjoy affordable drinks and live music in a safe environment. The bar closed permanently in September of 2021 due to significant health and safety concerns regarding the building's seismic performance. At the time, the Exec said they were hopeful that a replacement bar would be “up and running” by O-Week in 2022. Yeah, that didn’t happen.
Students thirsty for a beer tower were left twiddling their thumbs for two years until the Exec finally passed a motion in 2023 (with one vote against) to cancel the Starters Bar lease. Former OUSA President Quintin told Critic Te Ārohi that the two-year gap was spent working out “if the building could be improved to a standard that would make it safe to once again operate as a bar.” We now know the answer.
Current OUSA President Liam told Critic that it’s “a sad day for the student bar scene, as Starters was the final piece in that.” He followed this up by plugging the rubble site as a “great real estate opportunity.” If anyone is looking to build, now’s your chance.
Students are saddened by the news, which Critic finds dubious considering most of you weren't even old enough to drink when Starters was still open. A sticky note was submitted into our Critic 100 year exhibition, proclaiming the “need for a student bar!! #miss you Starters.” What do we look like? Magicians? Critic also had a student visit the office to drop off a “piece of Starters history”, which came in the form of a crusty (but packaged) condom: ‘Stoppers by Starters’. Ha ha.
Local legend Logan Edwards (band member for The Beatniks and Chump Change) told Critic that he frequented Starters in his prime. Looking visibly upset, he mansplained to Critic that the demo was the “final nail in the coffin for the Starters’ legacy.” Wonder how he came to that conclusion. “[I] shared many memories in that building,” he lamented, a building now just a bunch of rocks.
Critic Te Ārohi headed down to the site of destruction to get one last look at the building loved by many – and also try and nab a bit of memorabilia. We’d heard a few signs were up for grabs. As the haunting sound of toppling bricks and heavy machinery intensified, a demolition worker shouted at Critic over the clamour. “Bit late for last call, mate,” he cackled. Real salt in the wound that one was.
Coming across another worker clearing some debris from the footpath, Critic inquired into whether there were any signs left. Another let down: the majority of nearby flats had taken all the signs within moments of the building toppling, some even managing to acquire the huge Starters Bar title sign that sat on the highest point on the building. Greedy little shits.
Starters Bar has gone by many names over the last 140 years of business, including the Oriental Tavern, the Fat Ladies Arms, the Last Moa, the Oriental Hotel, the Middlemarch Hotel, and Mrs Mills’s Commercial Hotel. Now, Critic (lovingly) dubs it ‘Pile of Rubble’.