The Exchange Hotel is a historic landmark hotel in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia.
Location The hotel is located on the corner of Hannan Street and Maritana Street in Kalgoorlie.Register of Historic Places. (Number: 01289) Exchange Hotel Heritage Council of Western Australia. Retrieved 19 May 2014.Susie Ashworth, Rebecca Turner, Simone Egger, Western Australia, Lonely Planet, 2004, p. 147 It stands next door to the building of the Kalgoorlie Miner, the goldfields newspaper, and opposite the Palace Hotel.
History
The hotel was built in 1900 for the Wilkie Brothers, contractors for the Southern Cross-Kalgoorlie railway line. They hired the construction team Shaw and Harcorn, and the architectural team Hawkins and Spriggs. It has two storeys and it made up of bricks, iron and a timber balustrade. It has a corner tower and corrugated galvanised iron gabled roof.
During the race riots of 1934, the hotel was purchased by Bill Trythall from the former owner, who had a foreign-sounding name. As a result, the building was saved from damage.
In 2011, it went into receivership as a result of declining clientele.Aleisha Orr, 'Overpriced' Kalgoorlie watering hole bites the dust, The West Australian, 20 September 2011 In January 2013, it was purchased by a new owner.Chris Thomson, ‘Skimpy barmaids good for tourism’, One Perth, 2 October 2013 Their use of "skimpies", i.e. topless waitresses, is good for tourism.Dale Granger, Kalgoorlie: Skimpies feeling pinch in mining downturn, Perth Now, 7 August 2013
Heritage value The hotel has been listed on the State Heritage Register since 1997.
References