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Royal George Hotel
Royal Hotel, aka Royal George Hotel, George Street, East Fremantle, cnr Duke Street
Library:
The Royal Hotel, in East Fremantle, was built by J. Vetter (Ellen St, Fremantle) at a cost of £5200 for the Mulcahy Brothers. It was opened 12.10.1903 with Joe Tippett as Licensee. Later the association with George Street and the flagship Royal George led to the change in name to the Royal George. Photograph no. 912 from the Fremantle City Library Local History Photographic Collection, c. 1906, with the text from the Library entry.
Designed by Emil Mauermann, the hotel was built by Theo Vetter, originally for John Meagher, but the title had already passed to the Mulcahys before the hotel was opened (Graham). Daniel and Michael Mulcahy came to WA at the time of the goldrush, and owned hotels in Kalgoorlie and Boulder as well as the National, Commercial and Terminus in Fremantle. Their still extant house in Preston Point Rd is known as [[../buildings/knocknagow.html|Knocknagow]]. This hotel was sold in 1916 to the nearby Castlemaine Brewery, and then to the Swan Brewery in 1926, for the next fifty years. The next owner, in 1977, was Goff Burgess, who sold it to Carnac Nominees. They built the Royal George Tavern in their shopping centre on Canning Highway, and the liquor licence was transferred to it. Main Roads Dept acquired the building in 1981 with the intention of demolishing it in favour of the Stirling Hwy southern extension. It housed a school for five years, and was then leased to the EF Council and used as an Art and Community Centre. It was then in the dubious care of the National Trust, and the state government had plans to sell it. In early 2018, elaborate plans have been announced.
Photograph by Steve Doig
Town of East Fremantle:
Built as the Royal Hotel in 1903 for brothers Michael and Daniel Mulcahy, this is a typical example of a Western Australian gold boom hotel. It ceased to be a public house in 1979 and since then has been used as a school and artist studios. A National Trust Property for WA, the Royal George Hotel is an external view property.
The Old Royal George Hotel is a good example of a Federation Free Classical style, typical of the ebullient confidence of the boom years. It is handsomely proportioned and well balanced about its corner tower/cupola, which strongly marks its corner site. The architect showed considerable skill in producing a coherent and notable building, in the style of the day, whilst successfully addressing the design problems of a difficult site. Town of East Fremantle.
Simone McGurk MP and sculptor Tony Jones agree something needs to happen to the decaying Royal George hotel, but she's dead against selling it and he's not sure. Photo by Steve Grant
ROYAL FOR SALE
STEVE GRANT, Fremantle Herald, March 13, 2015
THE historic Royal George Hotel in East Fremantle is being lined up for sale to a private developer.
Owned by the WA government the iconic Duke Street property has been left to rot under the six-year stewardship of the National Trust.
Now, WA lands minister Terry Redman has confirmed to the Herald he's ordered his department to consider the derelict property for the government's asset sales program.
"The department of lands has been in discussions with the National Trust and Westbridge Property Group in an effort to determine the best use of the site which would add to the vibrancy of the local community," Mr Redman says.
The hotel is on the state's heritage register and held in "conditional tenure" by the Trust, which has come under heavy criticism for allowing it to fall into disrepair since wresting its management from East Fremantle town council. Tenants and artists were evicted in 2009 and the sprawling landmark building has been empty since, with vandals tearing out pipes and daubing walls inside and out with graffiti.
Mr Redman says the government informed the Trust of its plans late last year.
Town mayor Jim O'Neill doesn't oppose the sale.
"I think to be realistic there's a significant amount of money that needs to be spent on the Royal George and in the current environment I can't see any government being able to spend the $5 million or so that's needed," he told the Herald.
He says if the building's sold he hopes developers are prepared to work with his council and the community to do a sensitive restoration "as per the conservation plan".
Fremantle Society president Henty Farrar, who's sat on advisory boards for the council and once recommended it move its HQ to the hotel, is also backing the sale.
"It's good that something is going to happen to it, and it's got heritage protection so there'd be no massive changes to it," Mr Farrar says. "Clearly the National Trust were incapable of marshalling the necessary funds.
"I think at one point the Trust had an enormous appetite and bit off more than it could chew."
Mr Farrar hopes a corner or two of the hotel, such as a gallery space, will be opened to the public.
Fremantle state Labor MP Simone McGurk says anyone who cares about the hotel will "despair" about its potential sale.
"The big worry is that a private owner will have the town and the local community over a barrel when it comes to any development of this site," she told the Herald.
"The George is of huge importance to the people of East Fremantle. As the current owners, the state government has a responsibility to ensure there is a feasible plan to restore it. Instead, they are using assets like this as a cash cow to fix their budget mess."
Local sculptor Tony Jones has been involved with the George since the 1980s when Main Roads announced it wanted to bowl it over to widen Stirling Highway: community outrage led to the department having to curve the extension around the building.
"Personally I don't know what the best solution is for the Royal George, other than it's a scandal, a shame and a disgrace," he told the Herald.
Mr Jones says the Trust has "wasted everyone's time". He says CEO Tom Perrigo once "swanned around drinking coffee" after assuring a George Street community group of his once-revered organisation's commitment to the town.
The artist says whatever comes of the hotel, it needs to be "respectful, intelligent and community-based".
Meanwhile, the scaffolding's gone up this week on another ailing WA government asset in Fremantle: the first conservation works have started on the warders' cottages on Henderson Street, which are being tarted up and sold one at a time, with profits from each sale rolled into the next property's upgrade.
ROYAL REVEAL FOR OLD GEORGE
Fremantle Herald, 20 April 2018
SARACEN Properties released the first images of its planned 18-storey tower behind the old Royal George Hotel this week. Saracen says it will be targeting local down-sizers with the luxury apartments, with a Melville council report recently highlighting large number of elders stuck in big, old homes because of a dearth of appropriate small homes nearby.
The developer is also aware the height will be a shock for many, and already a Duke Street resident has contacted the Herald to highlight concerns about the additional parking burden on locals, as well as questioning whether Saracen’s claim it needed 40 apartments to make the development viable was more an ambit claim.
“Forty apartments with these views at $2 million each. Hmmm, do the math, please,” they implored.
Sketch of a proposal as @ December 2018
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The rear of the hotel @ 14 July 2019 showing its condition as serious but stable.
What follows is an article published by the Fremantle Society 7 August 2019.
== Planning by Force – The Royal George Hotel Scandal
Special Meeting of Town of East Fremantle to Discuss Royal George Hotel ==
The Fremantle Society exists solely to lobby for high quality developments and to protect the heritage values of Fremantle and surrounds.
Hundreds of hours have been spent recently putting together expert submissions and working with stakeholders.
But as a senior staffer at the Town of East Fremantle said last week, the bullying tactics of the WAPC criticised by Liberal MLC Simon O’Brien above have led to a “Planning by Force” regime from the government.
Mr O’Brien stated: “There are people in the WAPC (Western Australian Planning Commission) following an agenda which is about maximising the hypothetical levels of development, and that’s the wrong way to approach things.”
Similarly, the Heritage Council, a developers’ club diluted with planning department staff who refuse to accommodate Town of East Fremantle requests, have not stood up for the heritage values of the Royal George Hotel.
Please note:
Wednesday 7 August at 6.30pm: the Town of East Fremantle are holding a special meeting to discuss the Royal George Hotel amendment.
Tuesday 20 August at 6.30pm: the Town of East Fremantle are holding a council meeting to consider modifications to amendment 14 (Roofing 2000 site at 91 Canning Highway).
Along with hundreds of others, the Fremantle Society made submissions on the proposed scheme amendments. Very few indeed support Saracen Properties and their desire for a huge apartment block abutting the historic hotel.
The 170 page report on the Royal George Hotel going to council recommending it accept the 7 storey ‘compromise’ is not a victory for the community as some claim, as it will seriously damage the hotel’s landmark status in the George Street heritage area.
The whole issue has been a travesty from the day Alannah MacTiernan handed the hotel to the National Trust without informing the Town of East Fremantle, in the process of handing the hotel to a developer for just $570,000.
The former head of the National Trust Tom Perrigo is just as annoyed and frustrated as everyone else. He wrote:
“Demand a public debate – I will participate.s
Demand a corruption investigation – I would participate.
Demand an independent ruling by SAT – I would participate.”
ROYAL GEORGE MOVE
Steve Grant, Fremantle Herald, 9 August 2019
EAST FREMANTLE council has defied planning minister Rita Saffioti in its efforts to prevent over-development beside the historic Royal George Hotel.
At a packed council meeting on Tuesday (August 6), the council rejected some of Ms Saffioti’s amendments to a proposed scheme amendment for the site, which would pave the way for Saracen Properties to develop an apartment complex beside a restored hotel.
The council’s planners were particularly concerned about a clause allowing a seven-storey limit to be ignored by the state-controlled Development Assessment Panel, saying the community had been led to believe this would be a firm cap.
“If the minister were to support the modifications in their current form the potential impact of a building height exceeding seven storeys would not become apparent until a development approval application was lodged,” a planning report to the council read.
There were 233 public submissions on the amendment, most supporting the council’s position on a seven-storey limit and other planning controls which had been removed.
Sprawl
Only 16 submissions were made in favour of the amendment, arguing a taller building would help combat urban sprawl and give a better architectural outcome.
The WA Heritage Council supported the amendment, noting it “responded well” to earlier recommendations it had provided.
The council said it had “no specific objection” to a height limit of seven storeys, but would consider proposals of any heights across a range of heritage factors.
But the Fremantle Society blasted the Heritage Council, calling it a “developers’ club diluted with planning department staff who refuse to accommodate Town of East Fremantle requests”.
“The 170-page report on the Royal George Hotel going to council recommending it accept the seven storey ‘compromise’ is not a victory for the community as some claim, as it will seriously damage the hotel’s landmark status in the George Street heritage area,” society president John Dowson said.
“The whole issue has been a travesty from the day Alannah MacTiernan handed the hotel to the National Trust without informing the Town of East Fremantle, to the process of handing the hotel to a developer for just $570,000.”
The hotel as it was in 1986, from a Facebook page (Graham) giving no other information than the date. It may be from the State Library. That's the [[../buildings/brushfactory.html|Brush Factory]] on the right.
20 December 2019 update from Roel Loopers' blog:
The future of any development at the Royal George Hotel in East Fremantle is very much in doubt now that a new planning scheme amendment will not allow anything higher to be built than the height of the spire of the heritage building.
The question now is if owners Saracen Properties will consider it viable to develop the site behind the building into low-rise residential apartments, while investing millions of dollars renovating the old hotel.
Photo above a 6 August 2021 post in Facebook from the Town of East Fremantle:
ROYAL GEORGE HOTEL DEVELOPMENT - UPDATE
At its most recent meeting, Council decided to make a submission to the State Development Assessment Unit/WA Planning Commission (SDAU/WAPC) on the development application for the Royal George Hotel site.
The Council resolved to only support the proposal on the basis that the WAPC required the development comply with the Town’s Planning Scheme building height limit and car parking provisions (cash in lieu of parking) and for the development to comply with the Town’s public art and waste management policies.
Full details of the Council’s submission are available on the Town’s website, or by contacting Planning Services (9339 9319).
Roel Loopers photo 5 April 2022, with the reno nearly complete.
References and Links
Allen Graham's Facebook page for this hotel.
All of Roel Loopers' posts about the proposed development.
This page incorporates material from Garry Gillard's Freotopia website, that he started in 2014 and the contents of which he donated to Wikimedia Australia in 2024. The content was originally created on 20 September, 2014 and hosted at freotopia.org/hotels/royalgeorge.html (it was last updated on 30 November, 2023), and has been edited since it was imported here (see page history). The donated data is also preserved in the Internet Archive's collection.