The rumours are true: after a long history of beer, bands and boogies, The Victory Hotel (or, as it’s more fondly known, The Vic) is closing its doors on Sunday.

The long-standing Brisbane institution on the corner of Edward and Charlotte streets has operated as a pub since 1855 (originally known as the Prince of Wales). Later renamed The Vic, it was almost destroyed by a fire in 2008, then rebuilt and declared a heritage site by the Brisbane City Council in 2009. Put simply, the pub has been through a lot.

Tributes are flowing in on social media, with punters mourning the loss of the karaoke nights, live bands, central beer garden (and strangely comforting musky smell).

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As the oldest surviving hotel in Brisbane’s CBD, the scale of the loss – and its iconic $5 drinks – cannot be overstated. For the last 21 years the site has been leased to ALH Hotels. The group recently made the call to not extend the lease, which expires in March.

In a statement made earlier today the group confirmed they had made the call not to extend the lease but, the people at ALH Hotels are “proud to have been the custodians of the Victory Hotel for the last two decades, and we are sad to be saying goodbye to this iconic venue. We would like to thank everybody that has played some part in the operation of the Vic since 1993.”

One such player, venue manager Phil Coles, said in a since-deleted social media post: “The Victory has been the best and most testing venue I have ever run. I will miss it dearly.”

Echoing Coles’s sentiment, ALH stated that “a lot has changed [in the 30 years it has run the hotel], and we know a lot of memories have been made too”.

The venue’s landlords, Precision Group, declined to comment when contacted.