The world’s biggest beer can, which sits atop of the Grand Hotel in the main street is set to soon get a re-paint.
Cobar Shire Council has recently purchased the Grand Hotel building (and adjacent café) with plans to convert them into a ‘Grand Precinct’ retail and business space.
Part of their plan was to also re-paint the big Tooheys can which has been a tourism drawcard.
Council’s tourism manager Demi Smith has been negotiating with Tooheys to get the can re-painted.
Demi announced at last week’s Tourism Advisory Meeting that Tooheys were keen to come to the party to reinvigorate the big beer can.
Our local ‘big thing’ was hoisted atop the front awning of the Grand Hotel in Marshall Street in June 1990 in a tourism initiative by the hotel licencees at the time Chris Condon and Peter Payne.
The 5m tall, 2.5m wide can was manufactured by local firm KML Industries.
The project was estimated to have cost around $10,000 and was funded by Tooheys.
When it was installed it immediately took the Guinness World Record for the largest beer can anywhere in the world and put Cobar on the tourist map.
In May 2020 it was voted ‘The Best Big Attraction in Australia’ in an online Facebook competition poll run by Let’s Go Caravan and Camping.
The ‘Grand Can’ outvoted South Australia’s Big Lobster at Kingston, the NT’s Big Boxing Crocodile, Nyngan’s Big Bogan and The Big Ned Kelly at Glenrowan in Victoria.
