The historic Commercial Hotel in Yass is to be demolished after a fire ripped through it just over a week ago.
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"Due to the extent of fire damage, a structural assessment report concluded that the remaining structure is in an unstable condition and requires demolition," Yass Valley Council said in a statement.
"Council will continue to work with the landowner to ensure these works take place as soon as possible."
The fire which was estimated to have causes a million dollars of damage broke out in the early hours of Monday last week. More than 40 firefighters from NSW and the ACT brought the blaze under control just before dawn.
A 21-year-old man has been accused of causing the fire.
"The man was taken to Yass Police Station and charged with damage property by fire or explosion greater than $15,000," the police said the day after. He later appeared before court in Goulburn.
The imposing venue was a central part of Yass life until it served its last drink in 2005. It was built in the 1840s but had been left in a derelict state after shutting its doors 18 years ago. The council recently ordered that the verandah should be demolished as unsafe.
Recently there were plans to redevelop it as a "family-friendly pub".
It was pretty clear after the fire that major - probably irreparable - damage had been done.
"We were met with a very aggressive fire, and we were confronted with the risk of it spreading to the shops," Scott Lang, captain of NSW Fire and Rescue in Yass said.
It was so aggressive the roof and the first floor collapsed an hour later.
"There was a huge noise. It was like an earthquake, a rumble and the whole lot came down," one firefighter said.
The crews who attended were from Yass, Boorowa, Harden, Queanbeyan and Young. Reinforcements arrived from the ACT and the Rural Fire Service.
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On Friday, the man accused of setting fire to the building was released from custody pending a further hearing on condition he doesn't go within 50 kilometres of Yass.
The magistrate said the alleged offender, Shyhiem Whilliams, was at "enormous risk" of self-harm in custody.
"I'm reasonably confident that if I remand him in custody, I might be giving him a death sentence at this stage, given his mental health issues," Magistrate Roger Clisdell said.
Goulburn Local Court magistrate Geraldine Beattie had earlier ordered that the alleged offender's mental health be assessed.
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Steve Evans
Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times. He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues."
Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times. He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues."
