{{Short description|Demolished hotel in Brisbane, Queensland}} {{for|the Hotel Canberra in Canberra|Hotel Canberra}} {{Use Australian English|date=June 2020}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}} thumb|Canberra Hotel, 1935 The '''Canberra Hotel''' was a temperance hotel on the western corner of Ann and Edward Streets, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.<ref name=lb>{{Citation | author1=Cohen, Kay | author2=Donovan, Val | author3=Kerr, Ruth | author4=Kowald, Margaret | author5=Smith, Lyndsay | author6=Stewart, Jean | author7=Royal Historical Society of Queensland (issuing body) | title=Lost Brisbane : and surrounding areas 1860-1960 | year=2014 | publication-date=2014 | publisher=Brisbane, Royal Historical Society of Queensland, with QBD The Bookshop | isbn=978-0-10-101888-3 }}</ref>

==Temperance Hall== thumb|Temperance Hall and the Colyer Refreshment Rooms, circa 1921 The site had long been associated with the temperance movement, having formerly been occupied by the Temperance Hall operated by the Brisbane Total Abstinence Society<ref name=fs/><ref name=ho>{{cite web|title=Our History|url=http://www.healthyoptions.org.au/about-us/our-history|website=Healthy Options|accessdate=25 June 2015|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626104803/http://www.healthyoptions.org.au/about-us/our-history|archivedate=26 June 2015}}</ref> and located directly opposite the People's Palace (another temperance hotel operated by the Salvation Army). The foundation stone for the Temperance Hall was laid on 28 March 1864 by the Queensland Governor George Bowen, at which time the site was criticised as ''scarcely so central as one might desire''.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3169367 |title=TEMPERANCE HALL. |newspaper=The Courier (Brisbane) |location=Brisbane |date=29 March 1864 |accessdate=25 June 2015 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> However, the Temperance Hall itself was not built until 5 years later at a cost of £716.<ref name=fs>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article21867400 |title="THE CANBERRA.". |newspaper=The Brisbane Courier |date=1 August 1927 |accessdate=25 June 2015 |page=14 |via=National Library of Australia |archive-date=22 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191222184341/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/21867400 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Planning for a temperance hotel== thumb|William Robert Black ca. 1898 thumb|George Marchant The Canberra Hotel was built by the Queensland Prohibition League (later the Queensland Temperance League). The foundation stone was laid on Saturday 30 July 1927 by the Lord Mayor of Brisbane William Jolly with the intention to build a 5-storey building at a cost of £95,000; coins found buried under the foundation stone of the old Temperance Hall were reburied under the Canberra's foundation stone along with current newspapers and documents relating to the affairs of the Queensland Prohibition League. The architect was Arnold Edwin Brooks. The building was financed by private benefactors, particularly William Robert Black and George Marchant, and through a low-interest loan from the Independent Order of Rechabites (a friendly society committed to temperance).<ref name=lb/><ref name=fs/><ref name=slq/> There was ill-feeling that Black and Marchant were levied for gift tax by the Queensland Government in relation to their donations, but in July 1929 as the building neared completion, an act of parliament was passed to exempt these donations from gift tax.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article21426872 |title=Exempt from Duty. |newspaper=The Brisbane Courier |date=15 July 1929 |accessdate=25 June 2015 |page=12 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

In January 1928, it was decided to add two more storeys to the building (seven in total) and to provide hot and cold water into each room, increasing the cost to £120,000.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article21211686 |title=BRISBANE'S BUILDINGS. |newspaper=The Brisbane Courier |date=7 January 1928 |accessdate=25 June 2015 |page=24 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

==The opening== The seven-story concrete-reinforced building was constructed by Blair Cunningham and the Canberra Temperance Hotel was officially opened on 20 July 1929 by George Marchant. Portraits of the benefactors Black and Marchant were unveiled in the dining room; these had been commissioned from Sydney artist Norman St Clair Carter in January 1929.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article21429295 |title=DOORS OPENED. |newspaper=The Brisbane Courier |date=22 July 1929 |accessdate=25 June 2015 |page=14 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article21368130 |title=Art and Artists. |newspaper=The Brisbane Courier |date=19 January 1929 |accessdate=25 June 2015 |page=23 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> The dinner to celebrate the opening was marred by the Queensland Treasurer Walter Henry Barnes and Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly Mick Kirwan walking out after the loyal toast. They had noticed that the order of proceedings had the toast to the Queensland Parliament as the last toast (after the toasts to the benefactors, the temperance league and associated societies, the architect and builder); they felt this was a serious breach of protocol insulting to the Queensland Parliament.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article21429327 |title=DINNER EPISODE. THE PARLIAMENTARY TOAST. |newspaper=The Brisbane Courier |date=22 July 1929 |accessdate=25 June 2015 |page=13 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

==Operations== Despite doubts expressed by others, the Canberra Hotel proved that a high quality hotel could be successful without the sale of alcohol.<ref name=lb/> It was very popular, attracting 442,001 guests between 1930 and 1935. In 1934, a decision was made to add a further 3 storeys with 200 beds in larger bedrooms with private bathrooms; the original architect Arnold Brooks had designed the building to be structurally able to be extended in this way.<ref name=slq>{{cite web|last1=Sinnamon|first1=Myles|title=Sobriety in Ruins: the Demolition of the Canberra Hotel|url=http://blogs.slq.qld.gov.au/jol/2012/11/02/sobriety-in-ruins-demolition-of-the-canberra-hotel/|website=SLQ blogs|publisher=State Library of Queensland|accessdate=25 June 2015|date=2 November 2012|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626100552/http://blogs.slq.qld.gov.au/jol/2012/11/02/sobriety-in-ruins-demolition-of-the-canberra-hotel/|archivedate=26 June 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article36709683 |title=THREE STOREYS TO BE ADDED. |newspaper=The Courier-Mail |location=Brisbane |date=17 August 1934 |accessdate=25 June 2015 |page=25 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> The extensions would make it the largest hotel in Australia.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article35640073 |title=RADIO IN EVERY ROOM. |newspaper=The Courier-Mail |location=Brisbane |date=12 October 1934 |accessdate=25 June 2015 |page=21 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

The Lamplight Bar at the Canberra was the first non-alcoholic bar in Queensland and specialised in virgin cocktails and was claimed to have the widest range of non-alcoholic beverages in Australia. As it did not serve alcohol, it was a popular choice for school formals and Methodist weddings. The wedding of Joh and Flo Bjelke-Petersen was held at the Canberra in 1952.<ref name=slq/>

In September 1952, it was announced that a second 11-storey block would be built in Ann Street between the existing hotel and the Brisbane School of Arts to provide another 200 rooms at the cost of £200,000.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article50537311 |title=TO COST £200,000. |newspaper=The Courier-Mail |location=Brisbane |date=8 September 1952 |accessdate=25 June 2015 |page=1 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

==Closure and demolition==

The temperance league sold the hotel in 1985 and the new owner applied for a liquor license and served alcohol for the first time on the premises on 3 March 1986.<ref name=slq/>

thumb|Mincom building, 2004 In 1987, the hotel was closed and demolished to build a 104-storey office tower called Central Place, which would have been the world's tallest building at that time; however; that project never commenced. Later an office tower for software developer Mincom was built on the site.<ref name=lb/><ref name=slq/>

thumb|Canberra Hotel (on the right), Toowoomba, Queensland, circa 1948 Other Canberra Hotels were established or planned in other Queensland towns by the temperance league.

The Queensland Temperance League expanded its range of intervention and support programs from alcohol to include drugs and mental health. In 2015, it operates as Healthy Options Australia and is one of Australia's leading service providers in the prevention, treatment and rehabilitation services in these areas.<ref name=ho/>

==References== {{reflist|2}}

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Category:Hotels in Brisbane Category:Ann Street, Brisbane Category:Edward Street, Brisbane Category:Temperance movement Category:Demolished buildings and structures in Brisbane Category:Demolished hotels in Australia Category:Defunct hotels in Australia Category:Buildings and structures demolished in 1987 Category:Coffeehouses and cafés in Australia Category:Temperance movement in Australia