The Capella Hotel, on the corner of Peak Downs and Crinum Streets, was built in 1955. This was the site of the former Commercial Hotel, built in 1929, which was destroyed in a fire in February 1943. The destruction of the Commercial left the town with only one other hotel and the Peak Downs Shire Council, realising the need to provide additional accommodation for visitors to the town, undertook to build the Hotel as a function of local government. Several local authorities in Queensland built and ran their own licensed premises in the 1950s, including Rockhampton, Townsville and Winton. The new Capella Hotel was designed by Mr E.A. Hegvold and built by J.J. Booker and Sons, at a cost of £33,000. The Hotel was officially opened on 7 May 1955.