esk

Metropole Hotel, Esk, 1934

from State Library of Queensland

• Vesna Verencevic said:

  The well-known double-storied sawn timber Metropole Hotel was built on the corner of Highland and Ipswich streets in 1907 with timber supplied by Blank Brothers sawmill, and opened by J. Williams. The fire which destroyed the magnificent Metropole in November 1932 was the most spectacular ever in Esk. The glow could be seen for miles and the flames rose to one hundred feet. It happened late on a Saturday afternoon when most of the townspeople were out playing sport and there were only a few men in the hotel. Thought to have been started by a 'dumper' (cigarette-butt) upstairs on a mat, the fire caused £5,000 worth of damage. A new hotel was built immediately. The Esk Shire Council approved the plans in July 1933 and construction of the £3,000 double-story building commenced in September 1933. Ruby E. Beath was the licensee and she sold it to the Blank family in March 1934. The Metropole Hotel lasted until October 1974 when Mrs Violet Heck hosted a party marking the surrender of the license. The building had been sold to J. Samios of Sydney in 1971 who planned to erect a motel and restaurant on the site. During the mid-1970s the new owner, Russell Dore, spent $50,000 on renovations, opening the Staging Post Inn restaurant, and planning a crafts market upstairs; success grew from his ideas. He sold its enterprise to John and Marilyn Gott; Dianne Compton bought the Inn in August 1981 and converted it to a guest house and restaurant, complete with hotel ghosts. Source: www.somerset.qld.gov.au/downloads/file/103/191-commercial...