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MIDLAND PRIVATE HOTEL

Other Names

CASTLEMAINE COFFEE PALACE , MIDLAND HOTEL

Location

2 TEMPLETON STREET CASTLEMAINE, MOUNT ALEXANDER SHIRE

File Number

602327

Level

Registered

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MIDLAND PRIVATE HOTEL SOHE
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Statement of Significance

WHAT IS SIGNIFICANT?
The Midland Private Hotel including the building (interiors and exterior), verandahs and associated land. This includes the double-storey hotel building plus all extensions and additions. The single-storey former garage on Templeton Street is of lesser significance but contributes to the cohesion of the overall place. The awning of the former garage is of no significance.

HOW IS IT SIGNIFICANT?
The Midland Private Hotel is of architectural and historical significance to the State of Victoria. It satisfies the following criteria for inclusion in the Victorian Heritage Register:

Criterion A
Importance to the course, or pattern, of Victoria's cultural history.
Criterion B
Possession of uncommon, rare or endangered aspects of Victoria's cultural history.
Criterion D
Importance in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a class of cultural place and objects.

WHY IS IT SIGNIFICANT?
The Midland Private Hotel is significant at the State level for the following reasons:

The Midland Private Hotel is historically significant for its clear association with changing modes of travel and accommodation in Victoria in the nineteenth and twentieth century. Its 1870s elements, and prominent position directly opposite Castlemaine Railway Station, have a clear association with the expansion of the regional rail system and the popularity of rail travel. Its later association with the Temperance movement can be seen in the grand dining room, second-storey balcony and tea rooms which were added during the era of the building's use as a Coffee Palace. Through these elements the building demonstrates the influence and popularity of the Temperance movement in Victoria in the late nineteenth century and the requirement to provide amenities and accommodation free of alcohol for travellers. The 1930s modifications to the building, including Art-Deco features, show how the building was changed to reflect a more modern sensibility and the adaptation required to continue to attract patrons. [Criterion A]

The Midland Private Hotel contains a rare remaining example of a grand dining room associated with a Coffee Palace. The dining room is spacious, visually impressive and substantially intact with a high coved ceiling, detailed ceiling decoration and roof lantern. Dating from the 1890s, the dining room is rare as one of a small number of surviving places in Victoria that demonstrates the grandeur of Coffee Palaces. [Criterion B]

The Midland Private Hotel is a Classically styled building which is architecturally significant as a notable example of a Regional Railway Hotel and Coffee Palace. It displays a large range of elements added during the era of the building's use as a Coffee Palace - including the grand dining room and extensive balcony. The dining room is particularly fine. [Criterion D]

Group

Commercial