The Hawthorn Hotel, known as the Hawka to many Swinburne Uni students, has closed up shop for good as its current management hand the keys back to the pub’s landlords.
The popular uni pub in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs announced late last week on Facebook that it was closing its doors for the final time, explaining the uncertain future of ‘COVID-normal’ as a main factor of the closure.
“We have made the difficult decision to bid farewell to the Hawthorn Hotel as we hand the venue back to the landlord this month,” the post read.
“It is difficult for us to see when we might be able to offer this experience to people again under the new COVID-normal.”
And being a uni pub, the Hawka was known for its cheap student nights and themed nights, like classic UV parties, regular Sunday sesh, traffic light parties, and tightarse Tuesday student nights. Ah, the uni pub truly is a sacred establishment of sheer filth and cheap vodka raspberries.
Though the lights have been turned off at The Hawthorn by the current team, Swinburne University – who has owned the pub since 2015 – has confirmed it’s looking for new operators to renew the lease on the building.
As per the Herald Sun, a spokesperson from the university said they’re “engaging with hospitality providers and potential tenants for this building” and that they expect the interest for the pub will be pretty high, considering its location and how close it is to the university campus.
But for now, this current era of the Hawthorn Hotel has closed its books, and many who called it their second home during their uni days have posted up their fondest memories (that they remember) to the pub’s Facebook post.
Let us peruse through some of the more interesting ones, shall we?
I truly don’t need any more context about any of these memories, but I can tell you right here and now that I can suddenly smell the quintessential dank of a uni pub carpet, that’s for sure.
The closure of the Hawthorn Hotel comes days before Premier Dan Andrews is set to make “significant announcements” about the state’s roadmap out of lockdown, and just after the Victorian Government announced a $3bn support package for Victorian businesses.
