By Tania Phillips
For more than a hundred years the Condamine Sports Club has been one of the landmarks in Palmerin Street in Warwick – although in the early days it was known as the Langham Hotel.
According to the Heritage impact study completed before the start of the current work, the beautiful Federation building, which carries many of the hallmarks of a classic Federation building including ornate pressed metal ceilings, was completed back in 1913.
The Extent Heritage Advisors the stunning old building was designed by Warwick architects Dornbusch and Connolly for Mrs CA Cobcroft.
Dornbusch and Connolly’s design work can be seen around the Southern Downs and Granite Belt and included the Johnson’s Building (1898), the Criterion Hotel (1917) in Warwick, and the Soldiers Memorial (1926) in Stanthorpe.
And while the current building has been on the site for 108 years – there has been a hotel at 133 Palmerin Street since the late 1800s.
The original hotel – known as the Rose Inn Hotel was in operation on the site by 1881. Early owners of the location included Maria Dank from 1860, John Heffernan in 1870 and then William Law from 1871.
In 1911 the property was owned by Arthur John Cobcroft, one of the local bank managers and in the same year the Hotel’s then licensee Edward Portley was granted the ability to trade temporarily while the original Rose Inn building was demolished and replaced by the structure that we know today. Later the same year the property was leased to Daniel Allman and the following year tenders were invited for the building of the Langham Hotel which was now owned by Mrs Cobcroft.
Mrs Cobcroft’s new hotel was described in an August 1913 edition of the Warwick Examiner and Times as “a progressive move on her part and provides an ornament to the town”.
According to the article the new hotel was now under the direction of well-known local hoteliers Mr and Mrs Allman and being managed by Mrs Stokes (who had earlier managed the Allman’s Hotel in Grafton Street).
The Allman’s were well-known in the Hotel industry during the early 20th Century in the town, operating the National Hotel (known back then as Allman’s) as well as the Criterion Hotel.
The new grand hotel was supposed to be even more elaborate – the main staircase was designed to accommodate a passenger lift though there is no evidence that it was ever built.
The article in the Warwick Examiner and Times (1913) also indicated that the walls of the hotel had been built “of such a thickness that two additional stories could be added at any time”.
The ground floor of the hotel included a shop to the southern side of the main Palmerin Street entry.
In August 1913, PR Woods, a chemist, removed his business to the shop in the Langham Hotel premises. In 1919, the property was transferred to James Roach and remained in the Roach family until 1948.
The property was owned by a number of different people until it was bought by Anthony and Jacob Maroon in 1964. When Jacob died in 1979, his share was transferred to Anthony Maroon.
In 1995, the lease on the property was held by Anthony Maroon and Marcell Maroon. The club is now known as the Condamine Sports Club and is ready to take on the next century.
