1990: Old Fairfax Building demolition collapse

Source: Anon. 1990. "Building crashes on city workers". The Daily Telegraph, August 9: 1. 

Walking down Hunter Street in 2023, one may notice that the former Hunter Connection Office Building is being demolished as part of the new Hunter Street Metro Station construction. A new building will replace the 21-level/89-metre building from 1986.

Directly opposite is 20 Hunter Street, a 16-level office building constructed by Leda Holdings and completed in 1998. Initially, the tower was to have preserved the facades of the four buildings occupying the site, including the old Fairfax Building.

 

Source: Anon. 1990. Untitled. In Paul Pottinger and Jonathan Chancellor, "Rest of unsafe facade to come tumbling down", The Sydney Morning Herald, August 14 1990: 27. 

Just before 1pm on August 8 1990, scaffolding and brickwork from two buildings collapsed onto Hunter Street, injuring seven people. Given the magnitude of the damage, it is amazing that no one was killed, including one construction worker who fell twenty metres. The other six injured comprised of five pedestrians and a motorist. 

Below is coverage from The Daily Telegraph from 9 August 1990.

I have enlarged the photographs for your viewing.

This photograph shows which facades collapsed.  

After the collapse in 1990, the facades were demolished and not incorporated into the building that was built. 

Source: Pottinger, P. & Chancellor, J. 1990. "Rest of unsafe facade to come tumbling down". The Sydney Morning Herald, August 14:27.

Property Advert of the Week: Flowerdale Estate Liverpool (1966)

Below is a newspaper advertisement from 1966 promoting the Flowerdale Estate in Liverpool. Homesites were on offer from £995 ($1990).

 

Source: Lucas & Tait (Sales) Pty. Ltd. 1966 "Flowerdale Estate Liverpool Sewered Homesites" (Advertisement). The Daily Telegraph, October 1: 49.

Note: Advertising of goods and services in pounds, shillings and pence was permitted for two years following the introduction of decimal currency on 14 February 1966.

1964: North Shore Council Restructure

 

Source: Anon. 1964. ""Impracticable," Mayor protests". The Daily Telegraph, February 4: 7.

Above is a 1964 newspaper clipping from The Daily Telegraph with a map of new North Shore council boundaries proposed by the Northside Advancement Committee to the Local Government Boundaries Commission.

Under the proposed scheme:

• Lane Cove Council would be enlarged by around 25% to encompass parts of the Willoughby Council area west of the Pacific Highway. It became a predominantly residential area.
• Mosman Council would be enlarged by around 25% to encompass part of the North Sydney Local Government Area. Like Lane Cove, it would also be a predominantly residential area.
• Willoughby and North Sydney Councils would be merged to form a new local government area focusing on commercial development.

The restructuring was simply to aid commercial development on the North Shore and provide residents north of the harbour with increased employment opportunities, avoiding the need to cross the harbour to seek employment. This was the same approach taken with Sydney City Council at various stages in its history, where the boundaries reflected commercial activity. 

Source: Anon. 1964. "Scheme to develop Nth. Shore". The Daily Telegraph, February 3: 8.

Town planning expert Dr. Ivan Boileau supported the plan as it encouraged "a twin commercial" (two cities) centres.

 

Source: Anon. 1964. "Expert sees value in N. Shore plan". The Daily Telegraph, February 5: 14.

While the proposal never came to fruition, such a proposal today would not be popular going by attempts to merge North Sydney, Mosman and Willoughby Councils into one council in 2016. 

Property Advert of the Week: Cabramatta Units for sale (1971)

Below is a newspaper advertisement from 1971 promoting units for sale in Cabramatta. Prices started from $13 400 for a two-bedroom unit ($ 164500) in today's money according to the RBA Calculation Calculator). The exact address in Cabramatta is unknown, as 104 John Street is a commercial address.

 

Source: Stan. R. Freeman (Liverpool). Pty. Ltd. 1971. "Get out of town" (Advertisement). The Daily Telegraph, June 12: 42.

Sydney Opera House Turns 50 - Official Opening Coverage (1973)

Last week, I shared some newspaper clippings focusing on wrap-arounds, supplements and features relating to the opening of the Sydney Opera House. 

This week will focus on coverage in the major newspapers of the official opening of the Sydney Opera House by Queen Elizabeth II on October 20, 1973, given that the fiftieth anniversary falls on Friday. 

The Sydney Opera House was officially opened on a Saturday. At the time, afternoon newspapers were still published on Saturdays (though this would end in May 1974), which allowed The Daily Mirror and The Sun to publish the first accounts of proceedings and photographs. 

The Daily Mirror - October 20 1973

The newspaper felt "It's one of the wonders of the world", and the wrap-arounds featured a view of the Opera House from Bradfield Park as crowds viewed the festivities from the northern shores of the harbour. Motorists and spectators were told to avoid driving into the city. The late edition included the Queen's quote, "I have much pleasure in declaring the Sydney Opera House open." Crowds were estimated at 500,000.

The Sun - October 20 1973

Page 1 was dominated by an aerial photograph of the Opera House, and the crowd gathered on the forecourt.

The main feature on page 2 did not record the Queen's quote to declare the Opera House open but emphasised that in her view, the building would become "one of the wonders of the world" like the Egyptian Pyramids, which themselves were subject to controversy. 

 

The Sun Herald - October 21 1973

It was a day of glory for the city. According to their reports, an estimated one million people gathered on the shores of Sydney Harbour. Their coverage was comprehensive as the clippings show below. One point of interest was the tight security that was placed around the opening to ensure the safety of the Queen and the 15 000 invited to attend the opening ceremony. 

 

The Sunday Telegraph - October 21 1973

There are two front pages - the souvenir wrap-around and a general page one cover. The headline "Happy and Glorious" reflects the regal nature of the ceremony. A great picture of the Queen addressing the crowd with the Opera House and Harbour Bridge rising behind her.

 

Below is a full page photograph of the fireworks spectacular from that evening.

 

The speech read by the Queen was also published for its readers on page three along with a feature on the gala concert.

Related Entry

Sydney Opera House Turns 50 - Newspaper preview features (1973)

Property Advert of the Week: A.O. Bentley & Co - Epping and Baulkham Hills Land Releases (1962)

Below is a 1962 newspaper advertisement from A.O. Bentley & Co. promoting new land releases at Epping and Baulkham Hills.

The land release at Epping is not as close to the station as it is in reality. It is in the vicinity of the M2 Motorway and appears to be closer to Beecroft and Cheltenham.

Source: A. O. Bentley & Co. 1962. Untitled (Advertisement). The Daily Telegraph, April 14: 47. 

Sydney Opera House Turns 50 - Newspaper preview features (1973)

With the Sydney Opera House turning fifty on October 20, my next two entries will focus on its official opening by Queen Elizabeth II on that day in 1973.

This week will focus on selected material from newspapers in the days leading up to the opening. Next week will be a selection of newspaper clippings relating to opening day itself.

Newspapers published special features, supplements and wrap-arounds.

The Daily Telegraph - 19 October 1973

Wrap around with a photograph of the Sydney Opera House with the Sydney skyline rising behind it.

The Daily Telegraph - 20 October 1973

Front page

The clipping below contains two photos of decorations at Circular Quay, including special lighting being draped from office blocks at East Circular Quay.

 

The Sun - 11 October 1973

Page 1

Special Souvenir Cover. 

 

The Sun - 17 October 1973

Map of festivities and features for opening day.

The Sun - 19 October 1973

The article below reports that the city was to have its biggest day of celebrations in its history as Sydney siders gathered on the shores of Sydney Harbour to take part in the festivities. 

Source: Anon. 1973. "It's party night in Sydney!". The Sun, October 19: 7. 

The Sydney Morning Herald - 15 October 1973 

A souvenir supplement was published. Some clippings are featured. 

Property Advert of the Week: The Gazebo (2001)

The Gazebo at Kings Cross operated as a hotel between 1969 and closed in "the 1990s", though I tend to believe that it closed in 2001 when apartments went on sale in the former hotel. The conversion to apartments was completed in 2005. 

Why the decision to convert to apartments? Following the Sydney Olympics in 2000, there was an oversupply of hotel rooms in Sydney. There was also an increased preference for travellers to stay in Central Sydney, and for hotel operators in Kings Cross, it was more economical to convert hotels into apartment blocks. 

In the newspaper advertisement below from 2001, large studios were on sale from $375 000, 1 bedroom apartments from $495 000, 2 bedrooms from $635 000. Three-bedroom apartments were on sale, but prices were not advertised.

 

Source: City Project Marketing. 2001 "gazebo... good design comes full circle" (advertisement). The Sydney Morning Herald, November 17: 25A (Domain Liftout).

1992: Cityrail's controversial timetable

Source: Cityrail. 1991. "The times they are a changin'." (Advertisement). The Daily Telegraph Mirror, December 17: 22. 

 

Source: Nance, J. 1992. "Rail commuters rattled". The Sunday Telegraph, January 12: 16.

Any change to public transport timetables in Sydney will always incur at least some criticism or controversy. It may affect one line or route or the entire network.

Given that trains are our more patronised mode of public transport in Sydney, any changes to timetables will impact more commuters than buses and ferries, and hence receive more attention. Changes to train timetables often flow onto bus timetables where bus routes connect with rail services.

You may remember the changes from a particular year, because they may have impacted you directly.

In 1992, I was seven years of age and being a child did not have to rely on trains to get around, but Cityrail made changes to its timetables, which at the time were controversial. This entry provides an overview of why.

Why a new timetable?

In 1991, the NSW Government decided to retire the red rattler trains due to safety concerns associated with open doors in their carriages, which was to be completed in 1993. Most of the remaining carriages were retired in January 1992 and were to be confined to the Bankstown and Inner West lines until their final withdrawal the following year. 

Meanwhile, Tangara carriages (known as T set) were still being rolled out across the network following their introduction in 1988 and continued to be rolled out to suburban lines until 1994, with the outer suburban G set version rolled out in 1994 and 1995.

Also, Cityrail sought to increase services to outer suburban stations. 

What were the changes?

• Reduced off-peak services
• Longer wait times for connections with other lines
• An additional 2500 seats were made available for commuters during peak hours.
• Reductions in peak-hour services on the Bankstown, North Shore and Western Lines
• Additional services from Campbelltown to the Sydney CBD.
• Reductions in services on the Illawarra Line.

Why the controversy?

As mentioned, services were reduced, longer connection times and reduced services on lines impacted workers, especially those who travelled in shoulder or off-peak periods.

For the majority of commuters, they were inconvenienced, whether it meant having to change trains, longer dwell (waiting times) or having to alter their travel times. Delays and cancellations also added to the difficulties experienced.

Despite an additional 2500 seats added to existing peak-hour trains, reduced service frequencies meant that trains were more crowded. Below are clippings from a special feature that was published in The Sydney Morning Herald on February 7, 1992 (page 4).

Transport advocacy group Action for Public Transport called for the restructuring of some lines to improve efficiency and hence capacity, such as the Bankstown Line and better turnarounds at Berowra.

Source: Anon. "Train service 'a mess'". The Daily Telegraph Mirror, January 22: 20.  

The State Government was forced to act, altering timetables. The first round of changes was "small".  Cityrail claimed to have received 26,000 calls, with many supporting the new timetable, especially the replacement of red rattler trains with modern carriages. Shadow Transport Minister Brian Langton (ALP, Kogarah) called for the timetable to be axed while the ALP had received thousands of complaints via a special hotline that they set up. Mr Langton himself was a rail commuter and saw firsthand for himself the impact it was having on his travels and those of his fellow constituents. 

Source: Jones, S. 1992. "New review of Cityrail timetables". The Daily Telegraph Mirror, February 8:11. 

Later that month, a further 100 changes to the timetable were to be implemented over the following months. Some services would receive extra carriages, while some services would be altered to either have more stops or fewer stops.

   

Source: McLean, S. "More tail changes to help commuters". The Daily Telegraph Mirror, February 24: 18. 

Additional Reading

Action for Transport (N.S.W.). 1992.  "New Cityrail timetable," Action for Public Transport (N.S.W.) Media Release Newsletter, no 1 (February 1992), https://www.aptnsw.org.au/newsletters/19921.html