Grand Hotel, Childers facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Grand Hotel, Childers |
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Grand Hotel, 2008
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| Location | 106-110 Churchill Street, Childers, Bundaberg Region, Queensland, Australia |
| Design period | 1870s - 1890s (late 19th century) |
| Built | 1899 - 1900 |
| Built for | Johann Wilhelm Albert Kulick |
| Architect | Anton Hettrich |
| Official name: Grand Hotel, Childers Hotel | |
| Type | state heritage (built) |
| Designated | 21 October 1992 |
| Reference no. | 600608 |
| Significant period | 1890s (fabric) 1899-ongoing (historical use) |
| Significant components | kitchen/kitchen house |
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The Grand Hotel is a historic building in Childers, Queensland, Australia. It's a hotel that was built a long time ago, between 1899 and 1900. A famous architect named Anton Hettrich designed it. This building is so important that it's listed on the Queensland Heritage Register, which means it's protected because of its history and special design. It's also sometimes called the Childers Hotel.
A Look Back: The Hotel's History
The Grand Hotel is a two-story building made of bricks. It was built in 1899 for a person named Johann Wilhelm Albert Kulick. The architect, Anton Hettrich, was from Bundaberg. This new hotel was built where Childers' very first hotel used to be. In the 1890s, Childers was a new town growing because of sugar farming, and the Grand Hotel was one of five hotels built there around that time.
Childers became a town after people started cutting down the thick forests in the 1870s. In the 1880s, people from Maryborough suggested that Childers would be a good place for farming. In 1882, the land around Childers was divided into farms. The town itself grew when private land was sold near the railway line. The Isis railway line opened in 1887, mainly to help transport timber from the forests.
The railway helped Childers grow and also led to the start of the sugar industry there. In 1887, a man named Robert Cran decided to build a sugar mill nearby. By 1895, the sugar industry was booming, and Childers became a busy center for growing sugar. The town's population grew a lot, from 91 people in 1891 to 4000 by 1900!
The first hotel in Childers was a timber building called the Childers Hotel. A man named William Ashby moved it from another town in 1886. For several years, it was the only hotel in Childers. In 1894, Ashby bought more land to make the hotel bigger. By 1897, Johann Kulick bought the Childers Hotel. He decided to replace the old timber building with the new, grand brick hotel we see today, designed by Anton Hettrich.
Anton Hettrich was an important architect. He came to Queensland from Germany around 1884. He designed many buildings in Bundaberg and also the Primitive Methodist Church and Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church in Childers.
When the Grand Hotel was finished, it really stood out. Old photos show it was much taller than the other single-story timber shops and buildings on the street. In 1902, a big fire swept through the town. It destroyed almost all the buildings on the southern side of the street, but the brick Grand Hotel survived! After the fire, new and fancy brick shops and a new Palace Hotel were built. These new buildings looked much more like the Grand Hotel, making the street look very different.
Early photos from the 1900s show that the hotel had pretty metal railings on its balconies and a special viewing platform on the roof, called a "widow's walk." By 1908, the balcony was made even bigger. Childers was a very busy town then, with many new shops and hotels, like the Federal Hotel, built in 1907-08, right across from the Grand.
The railway also connected Childers to other towns, bringing more people to Childers for shopping and fun. As the sugar industry grew, many seasonal workers came to town to cut sugarcane by hand. Special trains brought them to Childers on Saturdays. This extra business helped the town become very successful. Today, Childers still has two hotels, the Hotel Childers and the Grand Hotel.
What the Hotel Looks Like
The Grand Hotel is easy to spot because it's on a corner where Churchill and McIwraith Streets meet in Childers. It's a two-story brick building that follows the shape of the street.
The hotel has a wide, two-story timber balcony that goes all the way around it. The roof of the balcony is curved and made of corrugated iron. The brick walls of the hotel rise above the balcony on the second floor. They have decorations like raised crosses and long panels for signs. Most of the fancy metal railings on the balconies have been removed, but you can still see a small part of one on the southern balcony.
The main roof is also covered in corrugated iron and has a sloped shape. On top, you can still see parts of the "widow's walk," which used to have decorative metal railings too. There's a window sticking out from the main roof on the front side, with a small pointed roof supported by wooden brackets.
Next to the hotel, on the west side, there's another two-story brick building. This part now has rooms for guests, a bottle shop, and the kitchen. It also has a single-story balcony with a curved roof.
You enter the hotel through two big timber doors that lead into a central hallway. To the left is the bar area, which is now one big space. To the right, there's a large room that goes from the front to the back of the building, with a bar at the far end.
To get to the second floor, you go up a timber staircase. The stairs lead to a landing, and from there, hallways go in three directions. These hallways lead to the guest rooms. Each room has timber doors that open onto the balcony. Some parts of the balcony on the second floor have been closed off to create bathrooms and showers.
Why the Grand Hotel is Special
The Grand Hotel was added to the Queensland Heritage Register in 1992. This means it's considered a very important historical place for a few reasons:
- It shows how Queensland's history unfolded. The Grand Hotel is one of many hotels built in Childers around the late 1800s and early 1900s. The number and size of hotels in a town showed how well it was doing. The Grand Hotel, being one of the oldest hotels still standing in Childers, helps us understand how much the town grew when it became a busy center for sugar farming.
- It's a great example of a historic hotel. The Grand Hotel, with its location, shape, and details, is a good example of what hotels looked like in the late 1800s.
- It's beautiful and important to the town's look. The hotel is a landmark on the main street. Its roof was often used as a high spot to take photos of the town. Its size, shape, materials, and details make it a key part of Childers' attractive and historic town center.
- It's connected to important people in Queensland's history. Even though some of its decorations have been removed, the Grand Hotel is a great example of the work of the famous Bundaberg architect, Anton Hettrich.
