Hotel Australia

The Hotel Australia was a former hotel in Melbourne, Australia. The hotel was built in 1939 on the site of the former Cafe Australia (which had opened in 1916), and was demolished in 1989.

This article is about the defunct hotel in Melbourne. For defunct hotel in Sydney, see Australia Hotel.

Hotel Australia
General information
Address266 Collins St
Town or cityMelbourne
CountryAustralia
Opened1939
Closed1987
Demolished1989
Technical details
Floor count12

Designed by Leslie M. Perrott, the Hotel Australia was a 12-storey building with 94 rooms, numerous private dining and function rooms, and was the most prestigious hotel in Melbourne in its day.[1] The hotel included two small cinemas,[2] a restaurant and bar in the basement, and a through-block shopping arcade on the ground floor which was touted as the largest in Australia, known as the Australia Arcade.[3]

The site is now occupied by a Novotel hotel and the shopping arcade St. Collins Lane.

History

From the 1870s, the north side of Collins Street between Swanston and Elizabeth Streets became the most fashionable shopping area in Melbourne, known as ‘the block’. The Cafe Gunsler was established in 1879, located in the centre of the block, and was one of the most fashionable restaurants and event venues in the city. It was refurbished in 1890 and renamed the Vienna Cafe, which was bought in 1908 by another prominent restaurateur, the Greek Australian Anthony Lucas. During 1916, World War 1, the cafe was closed due to its German associations.

Lucas employed the recently arrived Walter Burley Griffin, who worked with his wife Marion Mahony Griffin, to design an extensive new cafe, with the more patriotic name of the Cafe Australia, that was initially to include a concert hall, and ‘winter garden’.[4] Opening in October 1916, the cafe featured series of rooms, an entry bar, a Palm Court, a Fountain Court, leading through to the main arched roofed double height dining room. It was adorned with painted murals, sculpture and highly patterned plasterwork, and specially designed furniture and fittings, in the Griffin’s distinctive angular geometric style.[5]

The hotel was sold by Lucas in 1927 for 20,000 pounds to Fred Matear and Norman Carlyon and completely refurbished in the process.

In 1937, plans for the new Hotel Australia was announced. The scheme for the twelve-story building included an arcade which would connect Collins to Little Collins, and line up with other lanes and arcades connecting Flinders Street right through to Bourke Street.[6] In recognition of the popularity and unique design of the Cafe Australia, the hotel included an arched-roofed ballroom which was a simplified version of the cafe’s main room.[7]

The first event held at the new hotel occurred on June 22, 1939, with a benefit gala for St. Vincent's Hospital.[8]

During World War II, Douglas MacArthur used two floors of the hotel as his headquarters for a time.[9]

The hotel hosted many dignitaries. Sir Robert Menzies enjoyed the hotel dining room while Harold Holt had his wedding reception at the hotel.[10]

Demolition

The Citistate development group bought the hotel in June 1987 at a price of $55 million.[11] While preservationists wanted to save the structures, Citistate had purchased the building in a vacant state and claimed the building was a fire hazard, despite being a graded building in a heritage precinct, the City of Melbourne allowed the demolition.[12]

The hotel was ultimately demolished in the winter of 1989, with the fire marshal declaring the demolition site a fire hazard.[13] The replacement building included a budget hotel on top of a three level shopping arcade, which was known as the Australia On Collins. In 2018/19 the arcade was revamped and renamed St Collins Lane, and the hotel is currently the Novotel on Collins.[14]

See also

References
  1. Spicer, Chrystopher J. "Australia Hotel". www.emelbourne.net.au. School of Historical Studies, Department of History, The University of Melbourne. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  2. "Australia Two Theatre in Melbourne, AU - Cinema Treasures". cinematreasures.org. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  3. School of Historical Studies, Department of History. "Australia Hotel - Entry - eMelbourne - The Encyclopedia of Melbourne Online". www.emelbourne.net.au. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  4. "City Properties. Two Important Sales". The Age. 2 December 1915.
  5. "News in Brief". The Age. 26 October 1916.
  6. "New City Arcade". The Age. 27 April 1937.
  7. This has sometimes been mistaken for the preservation of the 1916 room, but the design details are quite different, and it was not a ground floor space.
  8. "Untitled Article". The Age. 10 May 1939.
  9. Forell, Claude (25 April 1989). "Matear clan still adding to lustre". The Age. p. 21.
  10. Dunstan, Keith (22 November 1992). "A new beat to the heart of the city". The Age.
  11. Upton, David (26 August 1987). "Citistate to develop $200 million Darling Harbor hotel". The Age. p. 28.
  12. "Let the Oz stay". The Age. 31 March 1988.
  13. "Hotel Australia a fire hazard, says brigade". The Age. 20 July 1989. p. 17.
  14. Graham, Tim (15 April 1992). "A new life for a city landmark". The Age. p. 23.

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