Pubs of Albany: Beloved Esplanade Hotel more than a memory at Albany’s Middleton Beach

Pubs are community hubs where friendships are made, romances sparked, and business deals brokered. Bad things can happen in places where people gather and drinks flow, but for the most part, these establishments are the keepers of fond memories. The watering holes of Albany are among the oldest in the State. In an ongoing series, the Advertiser explores their colourful history. In part five, we honour the memory of the Esplanade Hotel. No longer standing but fondly remembered, the old Esplanade Hotel was full of stories of US sailors, fires and demolition. While its spot on the Middleton foreshore now sits vacant, the Esplanade was a mainstay on postcards for more than a century. But to reach its beloved status, the hotel had to fight against staunch resistance, beginning with the Women’s Christian Temperance Union. Formed in 1891 at a meeting in Melbourne, the WCTU was the first national women’s organisation in the country, and a force to be reckoned with for about 50 years. Running a boarding house out of the future pub at the Esplanade, building owner Jean Galle made repeated attempts to get a liquor licence which were opposed by the group. Frustrated by their obstructions, Mr Galle might have turned to the black market. According to an 1883 Albany police gazette, Mr Galle was charged with selling two cases of brandy, with “one hour’s imprisonment” his punishment. Despite his determination, he would never get a licence, and it would take three more years for new owner Charles Moody to secure one in 1898. The WCTU was not pleased then either, making its concerns known to all in an 1898 report in the Albany Advertiser. “We strenuously object to a grog shop being planted on our pleasantest and most accessible pleasure resort,” the group said. “A resort where women and children have been accustomed to go without fear or restraint. Can they now? Are they not likely to be molested at any time by excited and drink-laden men?” After overcoming the tenacious WCTU, things started looking up for the newly licensed hotel on Middleton Beach. In the same year as a licence was granted, a new road connecting Albany to Middleton Beach was finished, allowing more people to access the previously secluded beachfront. It seemed a recipe for success and with Albany’s population hitting 3000, the mood was positive when the building was reopened on July 7, 1898. The opening featured “a grand celebratory dinner ... transport was provided from the town to Middleton Beach for a host of eminent guests”, a 2007 Albany Historical Society document reads. Despite the completion of new roads, travel around WA in those days was still a difficult and time-consuming process. Even the newly completed Great Southern Railway line, with its long wait times for connecting trains, could only alleviate so much of the burden. It meant a weekend trip to the beach was popular for people living around the Great Southern, and many chose to stay at the Esplanade while they soaked in the sun. “In the small town of Albany, Middleton Beach was the place to be seen,” Bert Veldman writes in The Esplanade Hotel at Middleton Beach. “A day at the beach was reason to dress up, not down ... on Sundays the Albany Brass Band would entertain beachgoers.” But the celebrations would not last forever and in April 1908, the hotel burnt to the ground in the early-morning gloom. At the time of the fire, the licensee and a sleeping guest were the only people inside. Both escaped injury. The fire would shut down the Esplanade for three years, giving gold miner Isaac Matson a chance to step on to the scene, opening a new chapter. With land from the high-tide mark on Middleton foreshore all the way to Eyre Park in Mira Mar, where he kept his animals, Mr Matson was well known. His new brick building, completed in 1911, prompted an outpouring of joy from the Advertiser, which labelled Mr Matson a “magician” who promised “wondrous change” for the region. As the hotel’s operator and one of the most prominent landowners in Albany, it seems Mr Matson was able to flout certain laws, opening unofficially on a Sunday in contravention of local law. Still, he didn’t have it all his own way, being forced to reconfigure the hotel’s balconies on to its left-hand side to stop them overlooking the footpath. And the demands from the government did not stop there. During World War II, the Australian Government seized control of the hotel as the Esplanade was recommissioned as rest accommodation for US sailors. The sailors enjoyed their time at the Esplanade Hotel, according to Mr Veldman. “The American sailors stationed at Albany became quite fond of the town and certain sailors were reported to be so enamoured with Middleton Beach that they proclaimed it to be ‘better than any of the beaches in Hawaii’,” Mr Veldman writes. “Consequently, Isaac Matson purchased a house in town, where he and his family stayed during the war.” Sadly, these sailors did not take great care of the Esplanade, and after the war an ageing Mr Matson returned to his beloved 100-room hotel to find it in ruin. He set about cleaning old cigarettes out of the carpet, sweeping up broken crockery, and replacing doors. There was no compensation from the Australian Government for the cost of refur-bishments, or the years of lost business. And to make matters worse, liquor was now tough to come by, with Mr Matson only able to sell beer once every month as guests were forced to put up with cider instead. It was around this time that the Norfolk pines of Middleton Beach were planted — but Mr Matson was none too pleased. “Matson told his disbelieving children that he couldn’t understand why they were planted at all,” Mr Veldman writes. “He predicted that within 60 years they would block the view of the beach from the hotel. At the time the trees were only 1m high.” Despite Mr Matson’s hard-earned refurbishments, Swan Brewery bought the property in 1964 and promptly knocked it down. Only 20 rooms were included at the hotel, and instead of facing Middleton Beach, the rooms faced Mt Adelaide, wasting the scenic coastal views. In the early 1990s, multimillionaire Paul Terry bought the property and knocked it down again, converting the hotel into a five-storey, five-star, 40-room affair. But after his death in a freak helicopter crash in 1993, the hotel started losing money. It was once again demolished in 2006 after the land was bought by a Singaporean company. However, this time, there would be no immediate rebirth for the Esplanade Hotel. Prior to its demolition, an auction was held at which historic items were sold off and scattered around Albany and beyond. In 2008, then-City of Albany Mayor Milton Evans said construction would start at the site late that year. But the global financial crisis set in, and the site sat empty. Six years later, the land was bought for $7 million by the State Government. And in December last year, Premier Mark McGowan flew to Albany to reveal the State Government had found a buyer for the 3700sqm site. Pacifica Developments and Ausglobal Group have teamed up to buy the site and develop a four-star-plus hotel with 80-100 rooms. The hotel would form the centrepiece of DevelopmentWA’s vision for a “world-class” Middleton Beach Activity Centre. But for the time being, the once-mighty Esplanade Hotel remains a memory.