with Benjamin Long becoming the school's first head teacher. When the school was destroyed in a fire on 26 July 1946, school students once again returned to Comley's Hall until the new school buildings were opened in 1948. After being renovated, the Emu Park Hotel was renamed Hotel Riviera in October 1927. The hall was destroyed in the Central Queensland cyclone on 2 March 1949 when it collapsed against the side of the hotel, which also sustained considerable damage. Later that same year, the hotel was destroyed in a fire on 27 September 1949. In the late 1880's, the Imperial Hotel was built in Hill Street. The proposal for a third hotel in Emu Park was met with opposition from the existing licensees as they believed the community was not yet big enough to sustain three hotels. In July 1888, George Wickham applied for the hotel license but was refused. Several months later, William Toon managed to successfully apply for the license to run the Imperial Hotel and the business was opened soon after. The hotel was bought by the Begg family in 1911. The Imperial Hotel was destroyed by fire on 7 April 1925. A movie theatre was built on the site in 1950 which was bought by the Green family in 1969 who transformed the building into a hardware store. The building was demolished in 1992 to make way for a row of new retail outlets. The Railway Hotel was opened by the Evans family in 1890. It was destroyed by fire on 19 June 1904. A boarding house was then built on the site which was purchased by the Begg family in 1912. The Begg's relocated the Mount Usher Hotel from near Mount Morgan to Emu Park and rebuilt it as the Grand Central Hotel which opened on 22 March 1913. The Begg family remained as licensees until 1926 when they leased it out before returning in 1945. There was a series of ownership changes before the licensing commission cancelled the hotel's license, after which it became a boarding house known as The Beachcomber. After the closure of the railway, The Beachcomber was sold but then remained vacant until it was demolished in 1977. In May 1987, the site was bought at auction and construction of a new building began on 7 September 1987. The Endeavour Inn was opened on the site by Denis Hinton on 26