Southern Cross Hotel
| Southern Cross Hotel | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Status | Demolished |
| Type | Hotel |
| Architectural style | Mid Century Modern |
| Address | 131 Exhibition St |
| Town or city | Melbourne, Victoria |
| Country | Australia |
| Completed | 1961 |
| Opened | 1962 |
| Demolished | 2003 |
| Management | InterContinental |
| Design and construction | |
| Architecture firm | Welton Becket and Associates in partnership with Leslie M Perrott & Partners |
| Other information | |
| Number of rooms | 435 |
| Parking | 350 |
The Southern Cross Hotel opened in 1962 as Australia's first modern International-style hotel, heralding the arrival of American-style glamour, the jet-set and international tourism. It occupied a large site on Bourke Street in central Melbourne, formerly occupied by the grand Eastern Market, and was the premier hotel in the city into the early 1980s. The Southern Cross was the preferred hotel for celebrities, most famously the Beatles in 1964, and the ballroom was for many years the preferred location for important events. Closed in 1995 and partly demolished, it remained vacant until finally demolished in 2003.
The half a city block site was occupied by the grand 1879 Eastern Market, and was owned by the City of Melbourne. Never having been successful as a food market, the structure had instead been the home of a variety of shops and entertainments, and by the 1950s it was seen as tawdry and outdated, and the Council began discussing what to do with the site.
In the 1950s, US based hotels such as Hilton and the Pan Am owned InterContinental created the first international hotel chains, bringing US-style modernity to cities around the world. With the increasing use of faster jet planes, the concept of international travel as a glamorous, but affordable, activity for both tourism and business purposes developed through the late 50s and early 60s.
In 1956, a vice president of Pan Am visited Melbourne to explore the prospect of opening an hotel, and began negotiations with the Council over the Eastern Market site. A deal was eventually arranged in which a local consortium in partnership with InterContinental would build the hotel, leasing the land from the Council for 99 years, while InterContinental would provide management. In 1960, the Los Angeles architects Welton Becket & Associates, in partnership withlocal architects Leslie M. Perrot & Partners, were chosen, and demolition of the market commenced that year.
Billed as luxury hotel costing £5,250,000, that provided "comfort and service without equal", the completed building was opened by the Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies on 14 August 1962, live on television.
The Southern Cross was an immediate success, attracting the growing international 'jet set', and hosting most world famous visitors to Melbourne in the following decades such as the Beatles, Judy Garland, Rock Hudson, John Wayne and Marlene Dietrich.
...
Wikipedia