Palace Hotel
- 600623
- 72 Churchill Street, Childers
General
- Also known as
- The Palace Hotel
- Classification
- State Heritage
- Register status
- Entered
- Date entered
- 21 October 1992
- Type
- Retail, wholesale, services: Hotel/inn
- Themes
- 3.8 Developing secondary and tertiary industries: Marketing, retailing and service industries
- 3.11 Developing secondary and tertiary industries: Lodging people
- Construction period
- 1902, Palace Hotel (c1902)
Location
- Address
- 72 Churchill Street, Childers
- LGA
- Bundaberg Regional Council
- Coordinates
- -25.23678667, 152.27863828
Map
Street view
Photography is provided by Google Street View and may include third-party images. Images show the vicinity of the heritage place which may not be visible.
Significance
Criterion AThe place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland’s history.
The Palace Hotel is important in demonstrating the evolution of Queensland's history, in particular it represents evidence of the development of Childers in the early twentieth century, including the rebuilding of the south side of the main street in the early 1900s; and the form, detailing, additions to, and outbuildings of, the hotel are evidence of the evolution of a country town hotel. The Hotel is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a early twentieth century country town hotel with its ground floor public rooms, upstairs modest accommodation, service wing, and significant contribution to a country town streetscape. It is important in exhibiting a range of aesthetic characteristics valued by the community, in particular the fine interiors, including the ground floor public rooms, and the building's significant contribution in form, scale, materials, and details to the architecturally coherent and picturesque Churchill Street streetscape and townscape.
History
The Palace Hotel was erected c1902 for Malcolm Redmond after a fire destroyed many of the buildings along the southern side of Childer's main street. The new masonry building replaced an earlier two storeyed timber hotel. The new hotel comprised public rooms on the ground floor with accommodation on the upper floor; the detached kitchen was located to the rear, with modest staff accommodation above. A large brick room opposite the kitchen may have operated as a storeroom at this time. In 1932, the hotel was acquired by Corser and Co Ltd, and again was leased. A new second storeyed accommodation wing at the rear to the building may have been added at this time. The Palace Hotel remained as an operating hotel until the 1980s. It is currently undergoing conversion into a backpackers' hostel.
Description
The Palace Hotel is a two-storeyed rendered masonry and timber building with corrugated iron roofs. It comprises of a rectangular wing with verandahs fronting Churchill St to the north (c1902), linked by a narrow covered courtyard to a parallel wing to the south (c1902 and c1930s). Externally the building is complimentary in materials, scale and form to other commercial buildings on Churchill St. At the same time, it rises above the predominantly single-storeyed shops on Churchill St, and is prominent in the townscape. The northern wing has ground floor public rooms, with accommodation rooms above. The south wing comprises two adjoining buildings; a service building to the west containing a kitchen to the ground floor and former staff accommodation upstairs, linked by a corridor to a ground floor function room and upstairs hotel accommodation.
