‘‘All the external work is pretty well finished except landscaping and the addition of a back veranda,’’ Mr Lodge said.
‘‘The plasterer is starting on the inside before the end of January.
‘‘Then all the bar fittings and carpets still have to go in.’’
The pub was destroyed in 2014 by a fire, and the process to refurbish the heritage building has been, ‘‘a bit of a haul’’, especially since COVID interrupted access to trades and construction resources.
Restoration works began on the building in mid-2021 after a development application was approved through council, with the stipulation that the heritage facade be restored.
A tentative reopening was expected for the end of the year, but with the reopening of the borders and the removal of lockdowns, work has mostly gone ahead unhindered.
The next step for the pub — which is co-owned by the Lodge brothers Michael and Paul, and the White brothers Charlie and Bobby — is to install the internal fittings.
The White brothers bought the hotel’s land and liquor licence in 2015.
‘‘It’s getting to a stage where the majority of the structural work’s done, and it’s basically just cosmetic stuff inside (still to complete),’’ Mr Lodge said.
He added that other members of the cohort involved with the rebuild, including his wife, were making some grand plans for the interior, which includes memorabilia of Conargo’s history.
It is in part to honour the Lodge family history of the pub, the brothers’ father Neville Lodge, the owner from 1956 to 1980.
The original building was opened in March 1867, licensed to David Rogers, the son-in-law of William McKenzie, who started the village’s first hotel, the Conargo Inn, in 1858.
The two hotels were located 100m apart, and in 1917, the Licensing Board deemed Conargo too small to sustain more than one licence.
Mr Rogers owned both buildings at the time and chose to keep the Conargo Hotel (then the Conargo Billabong Hotel), because it was in better condition than the original Conargo Inn.
In 1868 the Billabong Hotel was leased to Robert Pyke, but in 1885 reverted back to Rogers.
It has had many other owners since.
