Grand Central Hotel - what the hell where they thinking?!

[jk1237]

haha this subject has been brought up quite a few times on this site.

the destruction of this building this was the greatest ever crime against the people of Adelaide. Whoever was responsible needed to put to the electric chair.

The other bad loss was the Royal Exhibition building on North Tce

[Will]

Although I too share the outrage at the loss of the Grand Central Hotel, I am saddened that the author of this article does not see the beauty of the former Reserve Bank Building; easily one of the best 60's era high rises in the country.

[Will]

The old reserve bank building was just an example, Will. Sure it is a nice building but out of the two which one deserves to stay?

You know.......maybe if they replaced it with something at least semi decent, it wouldn't be as bad......but come on a car park? lol

The electric chair, jk1237? For destroying a building??? I sure hope you aren't a judge lol

This shouldn't be an either or scenario. Both buildings deserved to be preserved.

Mind you, the Grand Central Hotel was demolished in 1977. Back then, people didn't appreaciate Victorian and Edwardian era buildings as much as we do now. Indeed, at the moment, we despise early modern and brutalist architecture, and call for the 'eyesores' of the 50s-70s to be demolished. What is to say future generations will not hold us with the same level of contempt for demolishing notable examples of 50's modern architecture such as the old Advertiser building?

[stumpjumper]

It's hard to compare on almost any basis the Grand Central Hotel and the Reserve Bank Building.

Keeping a building on heritage grounds is not just a case of establishing heritage value and that's it. There has to be some rationality in the decision.

The GCH was a vast, cellular building. The prospects of a building like that meeting even watered down fire safety legislation is remote, and conversion costs for adaptive reuse could be very high. Who is going to pay for that?

It would be different if the building had some absolutely outstanding heritage feature, but what special characteristics does a a large, generic, Italianate hotel have? OK, conversion to apartments might be very cool, but what ifgthe market won't support the conversion?

And I'm a heritage consultant, fer Christ's sake, It's a real world though. Sad but true.

The Reserve Bank building has a bit more going for it. It's an absolute Rolls Royce of a building, built by the commonwealth government in an era of confidence. There is a refrigerarted, filtered drinking water system running through the building, and the ties between the leaves of the walls are not common galvanised wire; they are bronze.

I think that building has more potential to continue to earn its place than the GCH.

[usersalvatore09]

haha this subject has been brought up quite a few times on this site.

the destruction of this building this was the greatest ever crime against the people of Adelaide. Whoever was responsible needed to put to the electric chair.

The other bad loss was the Royal Exhibition building on North Tce

That Exhibition Building was one of the best buildings in Adelaide. It was like a mini US Capitol Building.
Adelaide would be a much nicer city if buildings like the Grand Central Hotel, Myer Emporium, and the Exhibition Building were still here today. I dont think there was anything wrong with them. They just got rid of them because they were 'old fashioned'.

[Wayno]

I was chatting with my mum yesterday, and playing on her ipad I showed her the above Foy's picture.

It brought a flood of memories back. She used to work there (secretary for building management) and remembers there being much discussion about refurbishment or demolishing. Apparently while the building was a thing of beauty on the outside there were significant internal structural issues. She could not recall any specific details - but could be why it was demolished...

[monotonehell]

I was chatting with my mum yesterday, and playing on her ipad I showed her the above Foy's picture.

It brought a flood of memories back. She used to work there (secretary for building management) and remembers there being much discussion about refurbishment or demolishing. Apparently while the building was a thing of beauty on the outside there were significant internal structural issues. She could not recall any specific details - but could be why it was demolished...

Similar story with the old Myer building, while the façade was heritage the internals were a creaky mess.

[skyliner]

I remember the Grand Central as the ETSA bldg - far better than a carpark. It had architectural sigificance and had a real 'city' presence.

Agreed that internally it might not have been up to the mark, but what old bldgs are? Like JK1237 said, - it was a crime to let this go - there is very little else like it here - John Martins gone also and also in a similar style. Both had a bulk appearance without being that tall as well. Both bldgs reminded me of 1930's New York CBD architecture but without the setbacks at various levels to avoid straight up walls both sides of the street.

Agree also JK1237 about the Myer Emporium and the Royal Exhibition bldg.

But after all this much of it is to do with taste,(aesthetics) architectural preferances and awareness for the past and future. I know my preferences are coloured by my age (61), what I've seen and been taught in this field, cultural background, country living etc etc.

[Waewick]

it reminds me of the samuel way building, which now meekly sits there as a court office.

what a wonderful looking building seemingly hidden in the corner of Vic square.

[jk1237]

awww, its just if it had remained it would have fit in with the current neighbouring 3 storey sandstone building down Rundle Street. Rundle Street would have looked perfect, like and old London Street.

Damn Damn Damn

and yeah The Remm centre (Myer) kept the old facade on North Tce side, just wish they could have worked the old Rundle Mall side facade into the development also. Oh well I still think with faired better than Brisbane and Perth in keeping prime historical buildings

[[Shuz]]

awww, its just if it had remained it would have fit in with the current neighbouring 3 storey sandstone building down Rundle Street. Rundle Street would have looked perfect, like and old London Street.

Damn Damn Damn

and yeah The Remm centre (Myer) kept the old facade on North Tce side, just wish they could have worked the old Rundle Mall side facade into the development also. Oh well I still think with faired better than Brisbane and Perth in keeping prime historical buildings

We fared a heck of a lot better than Perth!

[spiller]

We have fared a lot better than many cities in that regard. My father-in-law just spent a month here visiting from Chicago and was blown away by the amount of older architecture that was on display. I took them as big words coming from somebody who has grown up in a city as architecturally fantastic as Chicago. Sure 99% of the city was levelled in a mid 1800s fire but Adelaide only started to take off towards the end of the 1800s anyway.