Great investigation last night and a real honour to go behind the scenes of this legendary and historic hotel and band venue. The Chicks Hotel, with Bruce Mahalski and Martin Phillipps.
I’m down south, spending a long weekend investigating a couple of locations in Dunedin.
Chick’s Hotel, an 1876-built, three-level heritage building in the suburb of Port Chalmers, the main port of the city of Dunedin and the second biggest port in the Southern Hemisphere, was once a pub frequented by mainly sailors and later a popular and thriving live music venue. Former Port Chalmers mayor Henry Dench built the hotel on the original Port Chalmers jail site.
Initially, it was called the Jerusalem Hotel, aka the Jerusalem Coffee House. It was a popular escape for people working on ships in port. Tired and thirsty workers would come in for a well-earned drink to round off their busy day.
Tragedy, Kidnapping, Smuggling, Murder, Ghosts and Music. Chicks has seen it all!
Port Charmers local George Chick, originally from England, purchased the hotel in 1879 and renamed it simply Chick’s.
George arrived in Port Chalmers on the ship ‘The Challenger’ in 1870, working as a second steward.
Soon after, George suffered many personal tragedies. Six of his children died young. Four whilst only in infancy. All lie buried in the old nearby Port Chalmers cemetery.
George was killed, aged 47, along with 133 others, in a shipping disaster in 1894, when the boat he was on, the Wairarapa, took on water and sank just out from Great Barrier Island.
Hugh McArthur, who worked as a carpenter on the ship, ”The Discovery,” which had stopped off on the way to Antarctica in 1914, died in his bed while staying at the Chicks Hotel. allegedly, his bed caught fire while he slept.
More recently, in the late 70s, a man entered the pub to catch his wife in the act of having an affair in Room Five. In a rage, he shot both of them dead, then left the building to commit suicide further down the road.
After a long spell of sitting vacant and slowly becoming derelict in the rough area, the building was revived and given a new life as a music venue in 2008. Many iconic Kiwi bands have made Chicks their home through the years, including The Clean, Dead C, Snapper, Die!Die!Die! and The Bats.
Beneath the pub is a basement and tunnel system leading out to sea. Nicknamed the “Smuggling Tunnel”, legend has it that pub patrons would be taken down and “shanghaied”. I’m told that some were kidnapped while in a drunken state and dragged down to the port, where they would end up working on ships.
The basement was used as a cellar to store the beer kegs and is accessible via two trapdoors. One is behind the bar for closer access to the keg chiller. The tunnel entrance in the basement is now bricked up and inaccessible.
Due to a financially burdensome few years, the much-loved and loyally frequented live music venue shut its doors in early 2016. The closure left a huge hole in the Dunedin music scene.
There have been many ghost stories surrounding the Chicks Hotel.
Band members staying in rooms after gigs would wake in the early hours to hear an unseen visitor talking in their room. Footsteps are frequently heard around the building. Knocking on doors and doors slamming with force have been heard.
I spent a few hours on June 1st, 2024, investigating the hotel and exploring the basement areas below. I never got to visit this amazing place during its lively days, but I’ve read all the stories and know many of the people who have played here.
While I didn’t experience or record anything I’d consider paranormal, the overwhelming sense of being watched as I wandered from room to room was heavy and unavoidable. I kept looking up, expecting to see security cameras, but there were none. I was sure I was being watched from behind walls or unseen eyes. It’s a rare feeling that I’ve only experienced a few times in my travels.
Initially, it was called the Jerusalem Hotel, aka the Jerusalem Coffee House. It was a popular escape for people working on ships in port. Tired and thirsty workers would come in for a well-earned drink to round off their busy day.
Tragedy, Kidnapping, Smuggling, Murder, Ghosts and Music. Chicks has seen it all!
Port Charmers local George Chick, originally from England, purchased the hotel in 1879 and renamed it simply Chick’s.
George arrived in Port Chalmers on the ship ‘The Challenger’ in 1870, working as a second steward.
Soon after, George suffered many personal tragedies. Six of his children died young. Four whilst only in infancy. All lie buried in the old nearby Port Chalmers cemetery.
George was killed, aged 47, along with 133 others, in a shipping disaster in 1894, when the boat he was on, the Wairarapa, took on water and sank just out from Great Barrier Island.
Hugh McArthur, who worked as a carpenter on the ship, ”The Discovery,” which had stopped off on the way to Antarctica in 1914, died in his bed while staying at the Chicks Hotel. allegedly, his bed caught fire while he slept.
More recently, in the late 70s, a man entered the pub to catch his wife in the act of having an affair in Room Five. In a rage, he shot both of them dead, then left the building to commit suicide further down the road.
After a long spell of sitting vacant and slowly becoming derelict in the rough area, the building was revived and given a new life as a music venue in 2008. Many iconic Kiwi bands have made Chicks their home through the years, including The Clean, Dead C, Snapper, Die!Die!Die! and The Bats.
Beneath the pub is a basement and tunnel system leading out to sea. Nicknamed the “Smuggling Tunnel”, legend has it that pub patrons would be taken down and “shanghaied”. I’m told that some were kidnapped while in a drunken state and dragged down to the port, where they would end up working on ships.
The basement was used as a cellar to store the beer kegs and is accessible via two trapdoors. One is behind the bar for closer access to the keg chiller. The tunnel entrance in the basement is now bricked up and inaccessible.
Due to a financially burdensome few years, the much-loved and loyally frequented live music venue shut its doors in early 2016. The closure left a huge hole in the Dunedin music scene.
There have been many ghost stories surrounding the Chicks Hotel.
Band members staying in rooms after gigs would wake in the early hours to hear an unseen visitor talking in their room. Footsteps are frequently heard around the building. Knocking on doors and doors slamming with force have been heard.
I spent a few hours on June 1st, 2024, investigating the hotel and exploring the basement areas below. I never got to visit this amazing place during its lively days, but I’ve read all the stories and know many of the people who have played here.
While I didn’t experience or record anything I’d consider paranormal, the overwhelming sense of being watched as I wandered from room to room was heavy and unavoidable. I kept looking up, expecting to see security cameras, but there were none. I was sure I was being watched from behind walls or unseen eyes. It’s a rare feeling that I’ve only experienced a few times in my travels.
