The Crown & Anchor Hotel (aka the Cranker) is one of the most beloved live music venues in Adelaide (Kaurna), but last month, it was reported that a Singaporean developer is eyeing the venue’s site as the potential new home for a block of student accomodation. Naturally, the locals are pissed – and yesterday (April 28), some 3,000 of them took to the streets to fight for the venue’s safety.
The effort came courtesy of an initiative held by Save The Cranker, an aptly titled grassroots campaign launched to… Well, save the Cranker. The rally was held at the venue itself yesterday morning, uniting punters there at 11am before they marched on to the steps of Parliament House (about 2.3 kilometres away).
According to a post shared on Instagram, the rally had an incredible turnout of roughly 3,000 people, including some of Adelaide’s most influential figures. Among them were lord mayor Jane Lomax-Smith, her deputy Keiran Snape, legislative councillors for the Greens (Robert Simms) and the Liberal Party (Michelle Lensink) – proving that not even politics can interfere with one’s passion for live music – and members of the Cranker’s own staff.
All of them gave speeches from the steps of Parliament House, following a live performance from Cranker mainstays Pelvis.
At the time of writing, none of the official Cranker channels have commented on the rally or its turnout. TheMusic.com.au has reached out to representatives of the venue for a statement.
The last official word from the venue’s current owner, Skip, came on March 22, when they wrote: “You may have seen the news that a development application has been lodged over our site, so I thought I should let you know where we stand. I don’t own The Crown & Anchor – I am its latest custodian, a role I don’t take lightly. Since it was first licensed in 1853, generations of South Australians have been part of its history and we are determined to continue a tradition of cold beer, great friends and loud music.
“Our history is not just in our walls and floors. We are privileged to have had some of Australia’s best bands, including Tex Perkins and The Superjesus, grace our stage, and to have assisted in launching the careers of Bad//Dreems, The Grenadiers and so many more. We want to see Adelaide develop and grow, but not at the expense of live music and it is critical we preserve venues so the next generation of Australian musos can get their start.
“Nothing is set in stone at this stage and we will continue to work to ensure The Crown & Anchor remains the uniquely Adelaide institution that we all love.”
Meanwhile, a change.org petition to save the Cranker has garnered more than 22,000 signatures, while the Facebook and Instagram pages have racked up close to 2,000 followers.
Earlier this month, Adelaide City Council joined the fight to save the venue, voting to inform the Malinauskas Government about concerns surrounding the proposed redevelopment.
The Advertiser recently reported that the Singaporean developer, Wee Hur Holdings Ltd, plans to develop the land – on 188 and 196 Grenfell Street – into a building that will house multiple storeys of student accommodation, and had begun seeking planning permission from the State Planning Commission.
According to the report, the developer has proposed “partial demolition and adaptive reuse” of the buildings listed and plots an “ancillary shop on the ground floor and associated amenities, services and landscaping. As pointed out by The Note, the Cranker is heritage-listed but can be partially demolished if a developer retains the façade.
As it stands, Adelaide is Australia’s first and only UNESCO City of Music. The organisation aims to preserve the city’s cultural heritage, advocate for the value of music, promote South Australian artists on a global level, and connect the South Australian music scene to the UNESCO Creative Cities network.
