AFTER 100 years in business the Empire Hotel, Roma's oldest pub, will be demolished in late November.

The historic hotel will close its doors for the last time on October 21.

The site will be cleared to make way for a 25 bedroom motel, with construction of the new establishment due to start in March 2013.

Empire Hotel owner Rod Hendricks first took over the business in February 2010, and said he had kept the establishment open for as long as he could.

"I was hoping to do something with the pub, but it's never been looked after properly, it's all rotted out," he said.

"If it were simply a case of spending one to two million on the place, it might have been worth keeping, but it needs so much cosmetic work.

"For a while I considered selling it as a prime vacant block, but there's a shortage of accommodation in Roma, so I decided to build a motel there."

The original hotel on that site, The Prince of Wales, was built in 1877 and went through several name changes before its licence was revoked in 1905 due to the deteriorated condition of the building.

Eleven years ago the former owners of the Empire Hotel, Bill and Valerie McBride, received $25,275 from the Rural and Regional Historical Hotels Program to conserve it as a historical pub.

After the Empire Hotel has been demolished, the Queen's Arms will take the reins as the oldest pub in Roma, as it was established in 1917.

FOR all the latest news, check out the Western Star.