This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
THE City of Sydney has recommended the 80-year-old Alexandria Hotel be heritage-listed to prevent it from being demolished and turned into apartments.
The City commissioned the heritage assessment report earlier this year, but before a listing could be considered, a development application was lodged in June. This application proposed to demolish the building and construct a four-storey residential flat building with 28 apartments and ground-floor commercial premises.
The City made an interim heritage order over the hotel in July. This temporary order enables the City to investigate the significance and listing of endangered buildings. While the order is in force the City’s consent is required to demolish, develop, damage or alter the building and its land.
Lord Mayor Clover Moore said it was important to encourage the conservation of Sydney’s historic buildings for future generations.
“The Alexandria Hotel is a great example of the suburban hotels constructed in NSW during the 1930s.
“This 1935 hotel is one of the oldest running pubs in Alexandria and its presence is highly valued by the local neighbourhood – both architecturally and socially – and I’ve been impressed by the strong community support for its conservation.
“Heritage listing would provide protection for the building’s historic significance, by ensuring its heritage value is considered when major changes to the building and its use are proposed,” Moore said.
Council could not list the hotel when developing its comprehensive local plan in 2012 because the land was then covered by state planning tools.
Designed by architecture firm Rudder & Grout, the Alexandria Hotel was constructed by A D Dengate in 1934. Roy Rudder and Reginald Grout were responsible in the 30s and 40s for designing a vast number of hotels and hotel alterations for Tooth & Co across NSW, from Sydney to Moree, Young, Nyngan, Wagga Wagga, Gunning and Newcastle.
Their list includes the Hurstville Hotel, Eastwood Hotel, the Duke of Gloucester at Randwick, the Great Northern Hotel in Newcastle, the Petersham Inn, the Nelson Hotel in Woollahra, the Burdekin Hotel in Darlinghurst, the Westminster Hotel in Chippendale and the Century Hotel on George St.
At the time the Alexandria Hotel was built, there were 13 pubs across the suburb, three of which have since been demolished. Of the remaining 10, three have been adapted to other uses and all have been modified to greater or lesser extent.
Only the Iron Duke Hotel (trading since 1882 and relocated in the 1930s), on the corner of McEvoy Street and Botany Rd, is comparable in period and style to the Alexandria Hotel. Both exteriors are mostly intact, although the Iron Duke’s has been painted.
Only two hotels in Alexandria – the Lord Raglan on Henderson Rd and the Glenroy on Botany Rd – are currently heritage-listed.
Australian Property Journal
