Details have been revealed about the huge three-stage renovation works kicking off at one of Orange's most iconic hotels.
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Eagle-eyed residents were quick to spot the 'Royal Hotel' signage atop the Summer Street pub had recently been removed and some were worried this would be a permanent loss.
But Nick Rathburn, area manager for IMG Hotels - for which the Royal is a part of - confirmed to the Central Western Daily it would only be on a temporary basis as part of a bigger plan for the pub.
"The signs will be back," he said.
"We had to put a new roof on so we had to pull the signs off. Further inspection revealed they were damaged and had big rust holes. Because there's live wires in there, it becomes a hazard.
"We've had to get them repaired to go back up which will be quite costly. We're in the middle of sourcing the right person to do the job."
Mr Rathburn anticipated the signs would be back atop the hotel between March and June 2024.
The temporary removal of signs is only a small part of what will be a huge renovation taking place over the next couple of years.
The first stage of the project will include the gaming and Tab areas as well as the bar on the Summer Street side of the pub.
The existing gaming area has already been knocked down and moved to a temporary section of the pub so a new room can be built "without disrupting business."
Stage two still requires DA approval from Orange City Council, but the goal is to create a bigger bistro area and build a completely new kitchen.
"We're giving a whole new face to it," Mr Rathburn said.
"We'll double our dining capacity which will then allow us to sponsor teams and clubs because they'll be able to host events here.
"People want places they can go back after matches or have their presentation night. We can't really host anything like that at the moment."
Stage three - which also requires council approval - will focus on the accommodation side of the upgrade.
Although the pub has plans to build additional rooms and a function centre at the empty Lords Place building in-between the pub and bottle shop, this will not create an overall growth in number of rooms.
Instead, some of the existing accommodation will be demolished so that every room left standing will be fitted with an en suite and receive an upgrade. Mr Rathburn anticipates there will be roughly the same amount of rooms upon completion as there were before the renovation.
While there is no crystal-clear answer as to when the full renovation will be completed, Mr Rathburn hoped stage one would be complete by mid-2024 and "two years all up" for the three stages.
"Overall, we want to make it somewhere in Orange that everyone can come. We want to make everybody welcome," he added.
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