Business uncorked in old council chambers

EAGLEHAWK’S newest place to wet your whistle opened last Friday night

Chambers Wine Bar, located in the old council chambers above Star Cinema, is the latest place for people to have a drink and catch up with friends.

“It’s a unique space to enjoy a very, very nicely poured or made local beverage,” said cinema manager Martin Myles.

While the bar is open to everyone, staff are expecting to attract people seeking a more refined drinking experience.

“Because it’s such a grand and salubrious space, I dare say it will attract the kind of refined drinker that wants really good quality produce in a really refined environment that’s really inviting and has some historical context,” Mr Myles said.

“Its uniqueness will mean it will fast become one of those places you go to on a Friday night in the Bendigo area.”

The decision to use the old council chambers for the new bar was easy and “came about organically.”

It was a culmination of things that made the prospect of the bar so attractive according to Mr Myles.

“We have used that space as our festival hub bar for previous festivals over the last several years and it’s a great way to see a space that rarely gets seen,” he said.

“We feel it has huge potential but doing it only for festivals is a bit limited and we know you have to do things on a regular basis to become known.

“The reason we’re doing it now is because we’re a cinema and cinemas have really struggled during COVID and post COVID and it seems very astute of businesses like ours who’s futures are uncertain to look at ways of diversifying.”

The bar’s opening will be incremental, serving drinks on Friday nights from 5pm to 8pm at first.

Mr Myles said he expects the space to be open more than once a week in the future as it becomes more popular in the region.

Prior to the highly anticipated opening, the Star Cinema crew were preparing themselves and the chambers for their first night in business.