The Hotel Grand Chancellor Townsville, nicknamed the "Sugar Shaker" by the locals,(" 'It's also something we probably don't need to (alter), because people identify with the 'sugar-shaker' locally. 'It's as much a part of Townsville as it is a part of the Holiday Inn.'") ("More people might come if the mall were not dominated by a 20-storey motel tower. With its curved service block on top, it has been nicknamed the 'sugar shaker'".) ("The Holiday Inn Townsville is a local landmark, one which the locals refer to as the "sugar shaker".") is currently the tallest building in

Townsville Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 30 ...

, Australia, standing at tall. The building is located in the central section of Flinders Street next to Townsville Bulletin Square.

History

The building was originally constructed in 1976 on the site of the famous old "Central Hotel" which was cleared in 1973.A Cultural Plan for Townsville
, Townsville City Council, Community and Cultural Services Department, p.11 (2001), Retrieved 15 March 2010 The hotel has gone by a number of names. It was originally called the "Hotel Townsville". It has also been known as the Centra Townsville and Townsville International Hotel, and around 2001 its name was changed from the "Centra" to

Holiday Inn Holiday Inn is an American chain of hotels based in Atlanta, Georgia. and a brand of IHG Hotels & Resorts. The chain was founded in 1952 by Kemmons Wilson, who opened the first location in Memphis, Tennessee that year. The chain was a divisio ...

. Townsville. The building has become well known as a local landmark due to the fact that it looks like a giant sugar shaker. The odd shape of the building has been said to represent the importance of sugar to the Townsville port and area.Hofmeister, Burkhard. ''Australia and its urban centres'' (1988) () ("At the corner of Flinders and Stokes Streets the tower of the Townsville International Hotel was erected, its nickname being the 'sugar shaker' because of its peculiar shape symbolizing the economic importance of sugar for the area and for the port") The sobriquet was derived from its similarity to the top of sugar dispensers on the tables at a Coles caffetteria that existed in the Townsville CBD from about the mid 1960s to perhaps the late 1980s. The dispensers were glass, bulbous in shape on a flattened base, with a screw on metal cap and cylindrical projecting spout in the centre, of smaller diameter than the cap. The spout was sliced away in section at about 45 degrees, much like the structure that sits atop of the building which is now known as the Sugar Shaker. The most recent acquisition of the property took place in June 2016 with the building becoming the Hotel Grand Chancellor Townsville.

References

{{coord, 19, 15, 34.92, S, 146, 49, 01.7, E, type:landmark_region:AU, display=title Hotels in Townsville

Round buildings in Australia Hotels established in 1976 Hotel buildings completed in 1976 Hotels in Queensland 1976 establishments in Australia