Astor Hotel, Gawler Place, 1954

State Library Catalogue Reference: B 13143

At 95 Gawler Place, between Grenfell and Pirie Streets, west side. Established in 1849 as the Young Queen's Inn, known as the Commercial from 1913 to 1951, and became the Astor in 1951. Ended trading in 1982. The building has been demolished.

'Bar Damaged When Keg Explodes
Part of the front bar, a cash register and wooden shelves were wrecked and dozens of glasses smashed when an 18-gallon keg of beer exploded in the Commercial Hotel, Gawler place, about 4.40 pm yesterday. None of the barmen or the dozen customers in the bar was injured. One man had his pint glass of beer cut in halves by the blast but he was not hurt.
'I was standing beside the cash register reading the paper when I heard the explosion,’ he said.
'The cash register was blown from the bar and dropped to the floor beside me. My pint was cut in halves and my paper soaked in beer, but I didn't get a spot on my clothes.'
Murray Walsh, one of the barmen, was working in the cellar below the bar when the keg exploded and was showered with beer dripping through the floor.
The licensee, Mr. Neil Edgar, said he believed a safety valve on the gas pipe leading to the keg jammed and allowed pressure in the keg to build up to explosion point. The bar was closed and customers diverted to the saloon bar.'
The Advertiser, 18 October 1951, p1

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