Palace Hotel

Physical Description

: A two-storey building built to the street alignment in the Federation Filigree style, c. 1890 - c. 1915. The building is sited on a prominent corner in Hannan Street, opposite the Exchange Hotel and diagonally opposite the Australia Hotel. The building is truncated at the corner which forms the primary entrance to the building. The building has a verandah and balcony that extend across the facades and over the pavement. The exterior features a high, pedimented parapet; the pediment highlights the entrance on the ground floor. The building has since been extended and the ground floor fenestration altered. In 1996-97, the balcony infill work was replaced with cast-iron panels, and accommodation suites and bathrooms were removed from the Hannan Street balcony and the balcony was reinstated. The building has been extended down Maritana Street, and c.1950s, 1960s, a saloon bar and bottle shop were created along the Hannan Street facade.

History

The building was established as a hotel and continues to be used as a hotel. The building design is the product of an architectural competition and is believed to have been designed to be the most luxurious hotel in Kalgoorlie. The building was built of stone quarried from the local Ashlar Quarries and cost £17,000 pounds (Laurie, 1995: 16). The hotel was the first to have electric lighting with its own generator and fresh water was piped to the bathrooms from the hotel's own condensers. The furnishings were supplied from Melbourne. Originally built for the Hannan's Land Company Limited, the architects, Porter and Thomas of Perth, were the winners of an Australia wide design competition. Constructed by Mr J. D Connolly on a block with a 66 ft frontage to Hannan Street and 165 ft frontage to Maritana Street. The balcony was 16 ft wide. Two shops were in the Hannan Street frontage and three in Maritana Street. The main entrance to the hotel is in Maritana Street. The building accommodated a lounge-foyer, dining room, saloon and public bars and kitchen on the ground floor. The upper floor contained a lounge at the top of the stairs, ten double rooms and forty single rooms. In addition, the upper floor had two drawing rooms, parlours, smoking rooms, reading rooms, commercial parlours and a billiard room with two fine Alcock tables (Statewide Hotel Survey, 1996). With its prominent position in the town the Palace Hotel has been the site of many famous and infamous occurrences. Most of the street gatherings and public speeches were held from the balconies of the Palace and the Australia Hotel. The function room in the Palace Hotel is named after Herbert Hoover, who was a frequent visitor the Place Hotel while he worked on the Goldfields as a mining engineer" (Laurie, 1995: 17). The first manager was Mr Harry Rosenthall, who had previously been the hotel keeper at the Exchange Hotel on the opposite corner (Webb, 1993: 544). General Comments: The role of hotels was crucial to the social and economic life on the goldfields. If mines were the sources of the miner's wages, the hotels were the sinks into which a lot of it was poured. Hotels not only provided alcoholic drinks, food and accommodation, but provided men with comfortable surroundings quite beyond their normal experience. Hotels were also vital social centres for travellers and residents alike (Webb, 1993: 543-544).

Integrity/Authenticity

Integrity: High Authenticity: Moderate to Low

Condition

Fair

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Last Update