The Fall of the Gateway Motel

I think the Gateway jumped the shark when they put astroturf on the wall/bulkhead above the entry.

creative_canberran said :

The Gateway is without a doubt a 1970s era building, maybe even earlier.

A little earlier I think ! The builder, Crisack(?), built a lot houses in Canberra at the time. 20k for a new house on the outskirts of Canberra (Chapman)

P.S. The Canberra Rex was built in 1960. The font used for the 1960s era sign on the Rex was conspicuously similar to that use on the side of the Gateway, it’s a 1960s era sign.

Some fairly big names apparently called the City Gateway home at times: http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/01/26/25/fc/some-of-the-stars-that.jpg

(left to right, from top row): Frank Ifield, Sandy Scott, the Delltones, Mal Meninga (rugby league legend), Ronnie Corbett (British comedian), Wikety Wak (Brisbane show band from the 1980’s), ????, and hypnotist Martin St James.

I believe construction of the Pavilion began 1986. The Gateway is without a doubt a 1970s era building, maybe even earlier.

Ronnie are you sure it wasn’t the Pavilion next to the ABC in Northbourne you were taken to? That was regarded as flash when it was built in the mid 1980s – had an indoor jungle and was indeed quite ostentatious. The Gateway was always a very cheap building & cheap accommodation. I can’t picture anyone oohing and aahing over the Gateway, but the Pavilion (I think it had another name back then) got lots of attention. And it got the endorsement of nearby journos – I’m told the news director waddled over every midday after the production meeting for a three-hour sit-down at the bar before having to go back to work when the news footage trickled in …

terubo said :

And about time. I stayed there several years ago, it was sub-par.

A couple of friends and rellos who’ve stayed there said it was an overpriced dump. It should have been demolished years ago.

As a child my father drove me up to the Gateway to have a look at it when it first opened. There were loads of people oohing and aahing over it – back then it was considered pretty flash!!!

The new arc-shaped residential towers that will replace it look OK – c.350 apartments.

There is a development sign up on northbourne ave, it states that they will be building serveced apartments there, That doesnt mean Maccas will not be apart of it could be like James court in the city. That building would only be about 25 years old at best I went to Lyneham High in the 80s and i think it was built about 85or86.

I heard MACCAS was going on the site.

Normally I’m the first to be sad to see older buildings go – hell, I even think those horrendously unpopular flats along Northbourne have some historical/architectural value. But man was that hotel ever an unattractive “gateway” to the city. No great loss.

Of course they are building a new web-site. They need to tell people they can’t get a room anymore.

Load of shite architecture it was too. People need to think more significant and lasting.

And about time. I stayed there several years ago, it was sub-par.

On a destroying roll!