Hotel Darwin was a hotel located on the Esplanade in central Darwin in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. It was commonly known as the "Grand Old Duchess". Despite surviving the

Bombing of Darwin The Bombing of Darwin, also known as the Battle of Darwin, on 19 February 1942 was the largest single attack ever mounted by a foreign power on Australia. On that day, 242 Japanese aircraft, in two separate raids, attacked the town, ships in ...

and

Cyclone Tracy Cyclone Tracy was a tropical cyclone that devastated the city of Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia, from 24 to 26 December 1974. The small, developing easterly storm had been observed passing clear of the city initially, but then turned t ...

, the hotel was demolished in 1999. A bar at the rear of the original site formerly known as the Hot & Cold Bar now functions under the name Hotel Darwin.

History

The Hotel Darwin was designed by D. K. Turner of Messrs. Stephenson and Turner. It was built on the site of the old Club Hotel at a cost of between £50,000 and £85,000. Two hundred people attended the opening of the hotel, which was officiated by Northern Territory Administrator Charles Aubrey Abbott. His wife

Hilda Abbott Hilda Gertrude Abbott (; 9 September 1890 - 26 May 1984) was the wife of the former Administrator of the Northern Territory, Charles Lydiard Aubrey Abbott. She is best known her contribution to the Northern Territory's Red Cross branch. Early ...

opened the doors with a golden key, which is now on display at the Defence of Darwin Experience. 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.

In 1947, the Communist Party petitioned to turn the Hotel Darwin into a community hotel, which was signed by more than 300 people. Paspalis and Stanley Thomas Laurance were successful in their tender for the hotel. 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". The Hotel Darwin featured 'The Pickled Parrot', a piano bar and a fine dining restaurant called 'The Green Room'.

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 Timothy Denny Baldwin (born 1957) is a former Australian politician. He was a Country Liberal Party member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly from 1994 to 2005, representing first Victoria River (1994–2001) and then Daly (2001& ...

to intervene through use of the Heritage Conservation Act. 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.

References

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External links

Hotel Darwin Official Website

Hotel buildings completed in 1940 Hotels in the Northern Territory Buildings and structures demolished in 1999 Demolished buildings and structures in Australia Defunct hotels in Australia