If walls could talk, the old Commonwealth Hotel in Ipswich would have tales to tell.
The bar, also known as Murphy's Town pub, was built in 1910, and has stood through two world wars, two global pandemics and countless natural disasters.
The pub closed nearly a decade ago after it partially collapsed as the ground underneath it sank.
Now, the renowned Ipswich watering hole is set to return to its former glory, with a $6 million makeover.
The property was purchased by Ipswich City Council in 2014 for $400,000 – since then it's been picked apart piece by piece, and painstakingly put back together like a giant jigsaw puzzle.
"The facade was pulled down and stored off site," Ipswich Central Redevelopment Committee chair Councillor Marnie Doyle said.
That meant every brick, floorboard and decoration had to be carefully removed and archived in a storage facility.
'I got the story of the building itself'
Local historian Melanie Rush was tasked with the mammoth job meaning she had to record every nook, cranny and crack inside the pub — including a giant split that ran right through the building.
"The main crack went from the very top, right down to the very bottom so it went through the Commonwealth sign," Ms Rush said.
"At the top it was large enough to fit your arm through.
"In the 1980s, when the site was being developed as part of the mall, they dug an area to create a car park [next to the pub].
"Over time that created a destabilisation of the building.
"The whole western part of the building just sort of went one way and the eastern side stayed another way."
Ms Rush said while she was pulling the pub apart "it was almost as if the walls did talk".
"I didn't get the human side of the story," she said.
"It was the first pub in the CBD to have electricity and one of the first in the city.
"Now, it's one of the last remaining early 20th century buildings in Ipswich."
Bringing Ipswich CBD 'back to life'
Ipswich Mayor Teresa Harding said the building is an asset to the city and worth every cent spent to restore it.
"It's going to be key to reactivating our CBD," she said.
"It'll be a really iconic pub for us in Ipswich and a really big draw card to bring a lot of people back to our CBD.
Aushotels have jumped on board as the caretakers of the historic watering hole.
Sales manager Sarah Knopke said she remembers drinking at the pub in the 80s.
"We would come here and have a drink before we headed out into other nightclubs in Ipswich," she said.
"I'm excited to be back in the venue but in a different role – on the other side of the bar.
"Hopefully it will bring Ipswich back to life."
The pub is expected to reopen in February 2023.
