Muckadilla’s tenacious and hard-working hotel, central Queensland icon the Mucka Bup, is being sold by a devoted local who helped keep the town on the map.
The township of Muckadilla is found roughly 40 kilometres from Roma, counting just 38 local residents in the 2021 Census.
In 1912 the pub was built. In 1959 the remote town was made famous in Geoff Mack’s song “I’ve Been Everywhere”, popularised by Lucky Starr in 1962.
However, the recordings bookended the fate of the hotel, as the original pub fell victim to fire in 1960.
A replacement was built, which continued to find its place in the heart of the scorched Maranoa community.
Until, in August 2019, wind blew flames from a fire next door into the pub’s air-conditioning system, and in a matter of minutes it was again razed to the ground.
Firmly established as the central meeting place in town, locals feared Muckadilla might disappear altogether, some lamenting “There’s no Muckadilla without a pub”.
Local and current custodian Christy Coomber said they could do nothing but sit and watch it burn.
“The whole community almost cried,” she said.
John and Sue McIntosh, proprietors at the time, were not in a position to rebuild the pub, but Christy and her husband Marty, who operated a nearby farm, say there were a bit weary of the drought and challenges in farming and were motivated by the idea of reviving the town’s local.
They agreed to the takeover in just two days, sold some land for the purchase, and spent the next two years rebuilding.
Fellow local, builder Rob Pollock, had years of memories at the watering hole and took on the works, repurposing a lot of recycled materials and sourcing most things from the surrounding area.
“If this didn’t happen, the township would be dead … we would cry every time we drove past, I reckon,” Pollock told the ABC.
So it was that after two years labour – punctuated by a pandemic – the resurrected pub reopened to considerable anticipation and acclaim, in August 2021.
And providing an additional boost to the restart, what appeared to be a spelling error in the new signage caught plenty of attention on social media.
It turns out Pollock had played a prank on the new owners, erecting a sign proclaiming the venue “Mucka Bup”. The publicity was appreciated and the feedback positive, and the Coombers decided to keep the unique spelling.
Regularly hosting live music and events in its welcoming public bar and expansive beer garden, the hotel attracts patrons from around the country, reporting regular enquiries from FNQ and as far away as Perth.
The facility incorporates eight motel cabins and six powered sites, plus a separate residence, achieving annual revenue of circa $1.5 million.
But after nearly four years behind the bar Christy Coomber has called time for personal health reasons, engaging SGW Real Estate’s Scott Williams to market the asset.
“It’s a classic Queenslander, with a wrap-around veranda, timber beams and rustic charm,” notes Williams.
The freehold going concern of the Mucka Pub is being sold via Private Treaty, with price expectation of $1.75 million (+SAV).
