Hotel Darwin

Hotel Darwin was a hotel located on the Esplanade in central Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia. It was commonly known as the "Grand Old Duchess".[1] Despite surviving the Bombing of Darwin and Cyclone Tracy, the hotel was demolished in 1999. A bar at the rear of the original site formerly known as the Hot & Cold Bar[2] now functions under the name Hotel Darwin.[3]

Hotel Darwin, 1941

History
The Green Room at the Hotel Darwin

The Hotel Darwin was designed by D. K. Turner of Messrs. Stephenson and Turner.[4] It was built on the site of the old Club Hotel[5] at a cost of between £50,000[6] and £85,000.[4] Two hundred people attended the opening of the hotel, which was officiated by Northern Territory Administrator Charles Aubrey Abbott. His wife Hilda Abbott opened the doors with a golden key, which is now on display at the Defence of Darwin Experience.[7] Controversy erupted when several prominent Darwin figures did not receive an invitation. This was described as:

a very serious matter. These influential men might think that they have been deliberately ignored... the Post Office official cannot be too severely censured for their negligence.[8]

In 1947, the Communist Party petitioned to turn the Hotel Darwin into a community hotel, which was signed by more than 300 people.[9] Paspalis and Stanley Thomas Laurance were successful in their tender for the hotel.[10] In 1948, Lawrance was charged for failing to display a price list. The publican stopped serving beer while the case was before the courts, a period in the hotel's history described as "beerless, cheerless days".[11]

The Hotel Darwin featured 'The Pickled Parrot', a piano bar and a fine dining restaurant called 'The Green Room'.[12]

Demolition

By the 1990s, the Hotel Darwin reportedly was "riddled with cancer" and was "structurally unsafe". The owners, Paspalis Hotel Investment group, announced their intention to demolish it on 9 September 1999 after receiving two reports "confirming serious doubts about the structural integrity of the building". The National Trust of the NT called for Planning Minister Tim Baldwin to intervene through use of the Heritage Conservation Act.[13] A Supreme Court injunction on 10 September failed to stop the building's destruction, which began almost immediately after the ruling. Outraged protesters tried to save the hotel and police tried to defuse the situation. By the morning of 11 September the Hotel Darwin had been demolished in what was seen by many as an act of vandalism. [14]

References
  1. Lea, Tess (2014). Darwin. NewSouth. ISBN 9781742241739.
  2. "Hotel Darwin". Territory Stories. Northern Territory Library. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
  3. "WELCOME TO HOTEL DARWIN". Hotel Darwin. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
  4. "ISSUED IN COMMEMORATION of the OPENING of the NEW HOTEL DARWIN". Northern Standard (51). Northern Territory, Australia. 9 July 1940. p. 1 (THE NORTHERN STANDARD Hotel Darwin Supplement). Retrieved 6 August 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. "HOTEL DARWIN, LTD". Northern Standard (23). Northern Territory, Australia. 21 March 1939. p. 8. Retrieved 6 August 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. "DARWIN'S NEW HOTEL". Northern Standard (94). Northern Territory, Australia. 29 November 1938. p. 11. Retrieved 6 August 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. "DARWIN LUXURY HOTEL OPENED". The West Australian. 56 (16, 853). Western Australia. 10 July 1940. p. 3. Retrieved 11 August 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. "IT'S THE PUBS AGAIN". Northern Standard (52). Northern Territory, Australia. 12 July 1940. p. 4. Retrieved 6 August 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. "Demand For Hotel Darwin". Northern Standard. 2 (6). Northern Territory, Australia. 7 February 1947. p. 7. Retrieved 6 August 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  10. "LAWRANCE AND PASPALI GET HOTEL DARWIN". Northern Standard. 2 (15). Northern Territory, Australia. 11 April 1947. p. 1. Retrieved 6 August 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  11. "PRICES CHARGES AGAINST HOTEL DARWIN WITHDRAWN". Northern Standard. 3 (127). Northern Territory, Australia. 29 October 1948. p. 5. Retrieved 6 August 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  12. Malusa, Jim. "The Green Room, Hotel Darwin, Autstalia". Flickr. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
  13. "We'll bulldoze Hotel Darwin". Northern Territory News. 9 September 1999.
  14. Bannister, Brooke (18 September 2009). "Hotel Darwin lives on". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 105.7 Darwin. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
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