Historic Kalgoorlie-Boulder Hotel Hits Market Amid Heritage Challenges

A historic hotel in Western Australia's Goldfields region, infamous for its connection to a century-old crime, has been listed for sale with an asking price of over $1 million.

The Cornwall Hotel in Boulder, a two-storey hotel built in 1898 from locally quarried stone, has been a prominent landmark in the area since the gold rush era. The hotel's name pays tribute to the 19th-century Cornish miners who flooded into WA during the gold rush and built the pub.

A Piece of Goldfields History

Real estate agent James Brennan described the nine-bedroom hotel as a unique piece of Goldfields history, but conceded the interior "needs a lot of love".

"A property like this, it needs the right owner, someone who can bring it back to its former glory," he said.

"It really is hard to put a price on that history, and obviously it's a beautiful building … heritage does scare people at times, but there's definitely been a lot of interest."

The Hotel's Dark Past

The Cornwall Hotel's most famous former licensee was Evan Clarke, who turned king's evidence following the brutal murders of detectives Inspector John Walsh and Sergeant Alexander Pitman in 1926.

It was rumoured that following the murders, the bodies were taken to the hotel where they were dismembered before being set alight and thrown down disused mineshafts.

Heritage Challenges and Repairs

The hotel was badly damaged by fire during Kalgoorlie's 1934 race riots and again by a magnitude-5 earthquake in 2010, but has been extensively repaired.

The owners received $992,090 from the WA government's $5 million Goldfields Earthquake Restoration Fund, but structural repairs did not begin until 2016.

The Struggle to Preserve Heritage Buildings

Retired Kalgoorlie stonemason Ken Ball reckoned his 55-year occupation was a "dying trade" and that the demise of historic buildings was a sign of the times.

"I've got a lot of good memories here," he said, standing outside the Cornwall Hotel.

"I did a lot of work at the old Boulder cemetery, so I would often stop in for a drink on the way home … obviously not since the earthquake, though."

"It's a shame to see beautiful old buildings like this wasting away, and you'd love to see them get a new lease on life, but finding tradesmen is hard enough, let alone heritage-qualified tradesmen."

Heritage Projects 'Astronomically Harder'

Kalgoorlie builder Tim Matthew said heritage projects were "astronomically harder" and typically required a specialised heritage architect.

"Even if you had an infinite budget, most builders I know don't have the time to spend weeks and weeks researching the heritage requirements," he said.

"And honestly, some of these grants don't scratch the surface to do anything meaningful."

Preserving Heritage for Future Generations

Eastern Goldfields Historical Society life member Scott Wilson said it was essential heritage buildings in Kalgoorlie-Boulder were preserved for future generations, but they needed to remain functional as well.

"We would support anyone going down the road of heritage grants because it is an arduous process," he said.

"Whether that is a mining company renovating it for workforce accommodation, or someone turning it back into a pub, it needs to stay relevant."