Hotel on death row

DEMOLITION of the closed Criterion Hotel is again being considered with Townsville City Council advertising applications by developers for public comment.

Also, being considered is varying the city plan to allow buildings of up to 20 storeys on the 1.7ha development site on The Strand and Flinders St.

Council planning chairman Les Walker said yesterday he had no doubt many submissions would come from the public.

“We have to consider submissions and I have no doubt we will get a lot. There is a lot of interest in this,” Cr Walker said.

The council received 388 submissions last year when it considered re- moving the hotel from its heritage register, deciding to maintain the listing after most submissions called for the hotel to be saved.

But developers of the $ 450 million Hive project say their master plan is based on demolition of the Criterion.

They have applied for preliminary approval for the demolition as well as for extra building heights in an area which currently allows for eight storeys.

Hive developer Ben Griffin said they were pursuing their approvals.

“Griffin Group and our joint venture partner believe we have put forward an application for The Hive that is the best possible use of the site,” Mr Griffin said.

“However, we are still in the middle of the development application process and working with council as they continue their assessment of our application.”

The developers say the Criterion is a poor example of one of Townsville’s early 20th century hotels and have had some support from historians.

Despite this, the council is maintaining the property on its heritage register.

Cr Walker confirmed the listing would not prevent its demolition if that was what the developer chose to do, however, he said it did give the council some leverage to negotiate.

Requiring the developer to erect signage about the area’s history is one option.

One concerned resident Jo Shaw said she wanted to see the Criterion protected.

“The Criterion is a meaningful part of the city’s history. Once it’s gone, it can never be replaced,” Ms Shaw said.

“It would be extremely shortsighted of the council to allow it to be demolished.

“It seems ridiculous to keep chipping away at our city’s heritage.”

The matter is open for public submissions to the council until June 13.