ASN Hotel Building

From about that time, the former Assistant Surgeon's house was occupied by Francis Greenway, a ticket-of-leave man who had been transported for forgery in 1814.[1] Greenway was appointed to the position of civil architect and assistant engineer for the government in 1816, for which his salary included lodging quarters. This appointment ceased in 1822, however, Greenway refused to relinquish his government house. He produced a document (later claimed to be a forgery) purporting to give him title to the land. He appears to have continued to occupy the site until at least 1834, when the title was questioned and ownership reverted to the Crown. However, it was not until Greenway's death in 1837 that the Crown recovered the property, following action in London.[1]

Frederic Wright Unwin, solicitor and merchant, was subsequently granted the land in 1838. Unwin had extensive landholdings in the city, particularly along the western side of George Street.

On 1 July 1839, Unwin leased an area of land to Michael Gannon, carpenter, for a period of 21 years. Gannon had arrived in the colony as a convict on the Almorah in 1820 and was granted a conditional pardon in 1835.[1] The terms of the lease required that Gannon: 'shall and will within a reasonable time and within two years at the furthest build and erect on the line of frontage to George Street as many houses as will occupy the said frontage of such dimensions as said Michael Gannon may think fit so as such houses are of three stories exclusive of cellars and built substantially and of good materials.'[1]

It is unclear from the documentary evidence whether the Assistant Surgeon/Greenway's house had been demolished by the time Gannon took on the lease. However, by 1844, when the land was conveyed to R. A. A. Morehead and Matthew Young, Gannon had constructed a number of buildings on the land, including the New York Hotel at 91 George Street and a three-storey building at 93 George Street, as well as the terrace located at Nos. 95-99 George Street. Although Gannon was only required to erect buildings along the George Street frontage, the plan accompanying the conveyance in 1844 shows that the site also contained buildings along Argyle Street, and a workshop and stables accessible from the yard, all also presumed to be constructed by Gannon.[1]

The resulting configuration of the block was typical of urban planning in other quarters in The Rocks, that of a central yard, accessed through a passageway, and surrounded by buildings open to the public fronting the adjacent streets, as well as workshops or factory buildings opening primarily to the yard. Gannon was also responsible for the creation of the laneway (now known as Greenway Lane) accessing the yard from Argyle Street.[1]

The hotel at 91 George Street was constructed within 12 months of Gannon's acquiring the 21 year lease of the site, as he was granted a licence for the New York Hotel, George Street, in 1840. Later listings in the Sands Directory confirm that the New York Hotel was situated at the corner of George and Argyle Streets.[1]

In 1845, the hotel was described as "stone and shingle three-storey hotel of 15 rooms" and the building then at 93 George Street was described as a "shop with 6 rooms." Sands Directory listings for the site show that the New York Hotel operated as such until 1861, while the building at 93 George Street was a seaman's boarding house. Michael Gannon died c. 1846, having been declared insolvent in 1845. The insolvency records list Gannon's address as Argyle Street, and his occupation as builder. In the early 1860s, the uses of both buildings changed. While 93 George Street became a green grocer, 91 George Street was used by Henry Fisher & Son, ship brokers, as a warehouse. By 1866, however, use of the building reverted to a hotel under John B. Bassetti, who operated the Italian Hotel.[1]

In 1869, the name of the hotel was changed to the Liverpool Arms, as is evident in the earliest clear photographic evidence about the site. This 1875 photograph shows the building at 91 George Street in its original incarnation as a Georgian style hip-roofed building. The building on the site of 93 George Street is a three-storey building with a similar appearance to the hotel building adjacent. In 1870, the land containing 91 and 93 George Street was sold to William Yeoman, painter, and who, from the 1860s, owned the land at 95-101 George Street. After a period as the American Hotel, 91 George Street became the 'ASN Co's Hotel' in 1879. Yeoman occupied a store which was constructed by Gannon as a workshop in the yard behind George Street. In 1885, Yeoman sold the land to John Gill.[1]

On 26 February 1890, the City Building Surveyor, George MacRae, wrote to the City of Sydney Improvement Board to alert the Board to the premises at 93 George Street which was 'in a ruinous condition and dangerous to the public.' The agent for the owner, John Lord, told the Committee:

'The house has been let on lease, in conjunction with the Tooth & Co, it is let with the hotel to Joseph Davis the Hotelkeeper at the corner, next door to No. 93, which he sublets. The lease of both the hotel and house No. 93 will expire about the 23rd or 24th of April next, or toward the end of that month; I have been in treaty with Tooth and Co. for a renewal of the lease, and for effecting all necessary repairs and alterations, but the matter is in abeyance for a while, owing to their not being able to find a suitable tenant; as soon as the matter is settled it is proposed to expend £300 or £400 upon the premises, that is both the hotel & the dwelling house. Coward & Bell, architects, have been employed to draw up specifications for necessary repairs etc.'[1]

The Board resolved that the building be "taken down [condemned] forthwith". In so resolving, the Chairman of the Board asked the City Building Surveyor if the hotel adjoining the premises this day inspected was proposed to be dealt with, the Board having noticed that it appeared to be in a bad condition. The Surveyor responded that 'he had looked over the hotel building but it was not nearly in so bad a condition as the premises No. 93 George Street. He would, however, shortly make a more minute inspection as to its safety, when the building now condemned was taken down he would have a better opportunity of doing so.'[1]

Although the documentary evidence does not indicate when the Board's order was carried out, the physical evidence suggests that 93 George Street was demolished and rebuilt as a two-storey with cellar shop, and that 91 George Street was substantially rebuilt at the same time, shortly after the Board's order in 1890. As both buildings were under one ownership, and both buildings were leased to Tooth & Co, it is likely that the rebuilding of the pair was carried out in a single event, resulting in the shared decorative features evident in early 20th century photographs of the buildings, including the garland decoration to the parapets. It appears that the upper floors of 91 George Street were extended toward the west and built over Greenway Lane during this substantial rebuilding.[1]

The Sands Directory contains no listing for either building in 1891, possibly as both buildings were under construction at the time. When listed again in 1892, the ASN Hotel was under a new licensee, R. B. Goof, and 93 George Street housed O'Neill & Co, outfitters. O'Neill & Co remained in the building until 1907, when it became refreshment rooms. The ASN Hotel continued to operate as a hotel tied to Tooth & Co, under a number of different sub-leases, for most of the 20th century.[1]

Following the outbreak of bubonic plague in Sydney's waterfront areas in 1900, the property was turned over to the Crown as part of the resumption of the entire Rocks area. Following this resumption, the Maritime Services Board administered leases of 91 and 93 George Street until 12 January 1970, when ownership was taken over by the Sydney Cove Redevelopment Authority.[1]

Alterations to the hotel building at 93 George Street took place in 1912, 1922, and in 1928-9. During the latter 20th century, the Licensing Court and Police issued several notices to carry out repairs to the ASN Hotel. The hotel continued to accommodate a varying number of lodgers during this time. A 1955 internal Tooth & Co. report gives an understanding of the character of the Hotel and its lodgers:

'The Hotel is exceedingly old, the area is on the waterfront, and the lodgers are working men, and it is hard under these conditions to keep the rate of depreciation down the walls should be oiled in lieu of water painted or papered, so that they could be washed down.'[1]

By the 1970s, the ASN Hotel was trading poorly in comparison to other hotels in The Rocks under Tooth & Co supervision. A 1974 report stated that the ASN Hotel sold "10 kilderkins [5 barrels] and 20 dozens of packaged beer" per week, while the other four Tooth's hotels in The Rocks (Fortune of War Hotel, Mercantile Hotel, Australian Hotel, and Glenmore Hotel) averaged 60 kilderkins (30 barrels) and 115 dozens of packaged beer on a weekly basis. In 1976, Tooth's terminated its head lease with the Sydney Cove Redevelopment Authority and hotelkeepers began to lease their premises directly from the Authority.

The ASN Hotel ceased trading on 26 January 1983 and the NSW Public Works Department subsequently commenced substantial renovations and refurbishment in order to convert the building into a police station. All traces of the 1920s renovations were removed, and the building was given a Victorian Italianate-style appearance, based on photographic evidence of its earlier appearance. The police station opened on 20 December 1983, and operated from the site until 1998 when it moved across George Street to the former NSW Department of Labour and Industry Building at 132-134 George Street. Since that time the hotel building has housed a range of tenants, the most recent as a chocolate shop.[1][2]

Facade: c. 1891; 1928; 1983; Repainted 1999. There have been several internal modifications over time, including alterations to the bar configuration, and use of rooms and modifications to allow updating of services.[1]

In 2007 it underwent refurbishment, painting and fitout for the chocolate shop.[1]

• Bridges; Kerr; Walker (1977). National Trust Classification Card - A.S. N. Hotel, 91 George Street, The Rocks (part of George Street Business Precinct).
• Clive Lucas Stapleton and Partners Pty Ltd (2006). 91 & 93 George Street, The Rocks Conservation Management Plan.
• Clive Lucas Stapleton and Partners Pty Ltd (1999). Conservation Management Plan - The (Former) A.S.N. Hotel, 91 George Street, The Rocks, Sydney.
• Clive Lucas, Stapleton and Partners (1999). The (Former) ASN Hotel Draft Conservation Management Plan.
• Maitland, Neil Colin (1983). George Street, The Rocks: A Streetscape Conservation Study.
• Sydney Cove Redevelopment Authority (SCRA) (1978). Building Data Sheet HP/23.
• Sydney Cove Authority (SCA) (1998). SCA Register 1979-1998.

This Wikipedia article was originally based on ASN Hotel Building (former), Visa Offices, entry number 1527 in the New South Wales State Heritage Register published by the State of New South Wales and Office of Environment and Heritage 2018 under CC-BY 4.0 licence, accessed on 14 October 2018.