Hotel chip off old block
IAN Woodroffe has waited more than 70 years to sleep at his grandparents’ block – and it’s taken the most incredible of circumstances to make it happen.
The 72-year-old from Brisbane last night rested his head at Southport’s flash new Woodroffe Hotel after triggering a chain of events that will see he and two siblings feted by Mayor Tom Tate at this morning’s official launch of the seven-storey development.
Having named the hotel after neighbouring Woodroffe Park in the heart of Southport, developer Kyronn was stunned to learn it had unintentionally honoured one of the city’s pioneers on the very block of land he called home for more than three decades.
“It was sheer coincidence,” Ian said of the hotel site’s direct link to his late grandfather – Norman Sydney Woodroffe, the former deputy mayor and Gold Coast Bulletin editor who compiled a record of community service to rival anyone.
“My brother-in-law’s cousin noticed it being built but it wasn’t until the scaffolding came down that she saw the name of the hotel and linked it to my sister’s maiden name.
“I sent the developer an email asking why they had chosen the name and they said they had looked across the road at Woodroffe Park and thought ‘That sounds reasonable’. I replied to tell him how the park and Woodroffe Ave at Main Beach were named in honour of my grandfather’s community service.
“Then I looked at where the hotel was actually being built and realised it is on the exact location of the house my grandparents lived in for 32 years.”
Despite the passing of time, the memory of visiting that humble highset timber home during his Brisbane family’s annual trips to the Gold Coast remains ingrained in Ian’s mind.
He remembers his grandmother’s pride in her garden. He recalls the swing set and slide in the park across the road. He also hasn’t forgotten how busy his grandfather always was.
“Our interaction with him was minimal,” Ian said.
“We never slept over and in those days children were seen and not heard, but we knew he did so many things on the Gold Coast over the years.”
Too right he did.
The man known as ‘Sid’ spent nine years as deputy mayor. He was president of the Chamber of Commerce, Southport Surf Life Saving Club, the Show Society and the Progress Association. He was a foundation member of Southport Rotary and a member of the original Southport Fire Brigade Board.
It’s little wonder parks and streets were named after him all those years ago and little surprise his eldest grandchild is elated that his legacy has been recognised once more.
“A park or street can get lost in a community as it grows but to have a hotel in the centre of Southport named after him is something special,” he said.
The boutique Woodroffe Hotel was named an official accommodation provider of the Commonwealth Games.
I LOOKED AT WHERE THE HOTEL WAS BEING BUILT AND REALISED IT IS ON THE EXACT LOCATION OF THE HOUSE MY GRANDPARENTS LIVED IN FOR 32 YEARS.