The Plantation Hotel was established by Edwin 'Ted' Russell, officially opening its doors on 22nd February 1955. The initial design of the facade was square and functional; Ted asked the building company to add the distinctive curves. Ted had intended the Hotel to be called 'North Pacific', but the Licensing Court rejected the name, eventually approving it as The Plantation.
According to local historian Neil Yeates, the building of the Plantation was one of the signals of “a new dynamism” [1] in the Coffs Harbour business centre. The new 24-bedroom hotel was expected to alleviate the town's accommodation shortages.
On opening day the Plantation Hotel offered free beers all day, capitalising on newly established laws allowing hotels to extend their closing time from 6pm to 10pm. The Advocate reported that there were 'long lines of parked cars as far as the eye could see'. [2]
In the 1950s and 1960s, the Plantation was a stopover point for Pioneer Bus Tours travelling between Sydney and Brisbane. Guests spending the night in Coffs Harbour were shown films and slides of the local area.
Ted's son and daughter-in-law Ken and Judy bought the neighbouring Rex Motel in 1963, renaming it the Plantation Inn Motel. The motel's pool was used by local schools for swimming lessons. Ted Russell sold the Plantation Hotel around 1987/8.
[1] Coffs Harbour: Volume II, 1946-1964, Neil Yeates,p. 140
[2] Coffs Harbour Advocate, 25 February 1955
In 2019, Ken and Judy Russell generously donated this collection of material from their family business to the Coffs Harbour Regional Museum. The donation includes the original architectural drawings of the Plantation, showing the square and curved facades. It also includes photographs, scrapbooks, dinner menus, banners, a projector and a film shown to visitors.
