Criterion Hotel, Warwick 3.94

The Criterion Hotel is a heritage-listed hotel at 84 Palmerin Street in Warwick, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Dornbusch & Connolly and built in 1917 by Connolly & Bell. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.HistoryThis two-storeyed brick hotel, prominently situated in Palmerin Street, the main street of Warwick, was erected in 1917 for the Allman family.It replaced a single-storeyed timber hotel, known also as the Criterion, which existed on the site from the 1860s, owned by David Bugden. Records indicate that although Bugden apparently left the Criterion in mid 1872, he retained ownership of the property and the hotel continued to be operated by members of the Bugden family until the early 1880s, then by JW Quinn until the mid 1880s.The hotel was acquired by Jeremiah Allman in 1887. Born in Ireland, Allman arrived in Australia in the mid 1860s, establishing himself on the Darling Downs and acquiring a hotel in Stanthorpe in the early 1870s. At around this time Allman married Mrs Mary Dwan, a Warwick widow and licensee of the Sportsman's Arms Hotel in Albion St, Warwick. The Allmans remained at the Sportsman's Arms until they moved to the Criterion Hotel in the mid 1880s.From the mid 1880s, Allman was also actively involved in the development of Warwick. Allman was elected an alderman of the Warwick Town Council in 1886, remaining with the Council until 1903 and serving as Mayor in 1895 and 1902.