1987: Decommissioning of Darlinghurst Police Station

In 1987, the Sydney Police Centre at Surry Hills opened, and it led to the decommissioning of the Darlinghurst Police Station in Bourke Street, Darlinghurst. It had been opened in 1896 with a lock-up facility built three years later in 1899. The Daily Telegraph produced a two-page feature to mark the end of an era.

It will be preserved for future generations as it is now heritage listed.

Source: Tesse, L. 1987. "Bourke Street Blues: It's the end of an era for Darlo nick". The Daily Telegraph, March 6: 26-27.

Property Advert of the Week: James Cook Island, Sylvania Waters (1971)

This week, our property advertisement dates back to 1971 when 13 waterfront lots at James Cook Island in Sylvania Waters were listed for Auction. Note the location of the auction - the Anthony Hordern Building in the city.

  

Source: C. J. Monro Pty. Ltd. 1971. "Sylvania Waters (Advertisement)". The St George and Sutherland Shire Leader, November 24: 16.

1999: Frank Sartor & the Cross City Tunnel

In 1999, planning was underway for the Cross City Tunnel. Sydney City Council was led by Lord Mayor Frank Sartor.

At the time, the Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) had proposed a 1.6-kilometre tunnel to run under the city from the intersection of Druitt and Kent Streets through to the Eastern Distributor with portals linking through to William Street. Motorists would pay a $2 toll.

Source: Skelsey, M. 1999. "Digging deeper: Sartor pushes $140m city tunnel extension". The Daily Telegraph, April 13: 15.

Frank Sartor commissioned a study to determine whether it should be extended further. Leading architects, Donald Crone, Harry Seidler and Phillip Cox proposed extending it through the eastern end of the Kings Cross Tunnel at Rushcutters Bay. This would also allow the council to fulfil their decades-long vision of turning William Street into a pedestrian boulevard.

In September that year, the tunnel was extended to Kings Cross end of the Kings Cross Tunnel with a $2.50 toll. Three years later, the final route extended it further east to the Rushcutters Bay end of the Kings Cross Tunnel.

As for the boulevard, the opening of the tunnel in 2005 led to an attempt to reduce the number of lanes on William Street. This failed when traffic stayed away from the tunnel due to the initial $3.56 toll. William Street still carries large traffic volumes. As for the council, that vision for William Street, remains a vision.

Property Advert of the Week: Greystanes Land Release (1966)

This week, our property advertisement dates from 1966. It was published on February 12, two days before the official conversion from pounds and pence to dollars and cents. Windsor Homes were offering blocks of land at "Merrylands" (Greystanes) for a deposit of just fifty pounds.

Fifteen blocks were on offer. Interested buyers had to meet the agents at the corner of Merrylands Road & Canal Street. I've included a link to the corner on Google Earth for those curious to see the area today.

 

Source: Windsor Homes Pty. Ltd. 1966. "Bargain Sites: Merrylands (Advertisement)". The Daily Telegraph, February 12: 42.

1965: Marcus Clark's Shopping Centre Advertisement

This month, it will be fifty years since Marcus Clarks Department Store closed at Railway Square, after serving the people of Sydney for 82 years. It had been bought out by rival chain Waltons after rising debts.

Just months before closing, it made the decision to reinvent itself as a shopping centre, promising everything under one roof plus one hour of free parking if you showed your docket.

It had become a victim of the rise of suburban shopping centres, which had impacted on retailers in the southern sections of the central business district.

Here is an advertisement that I found from March 1965, as published in The Sunday Telegraph. 

Source: Marcus Clark's. 1965. "Marcus Clark's shopping centre... Uptown Railway Square (Advertisement)". The Sunday Telegraph, March 7: 39.

Property Advert of the Week: AVJennings "No Worries" Sale (1991)

As Sydney endured the property crash of the early 1990s and recession, AV Jennings was happy to build your dream home for $59 990 (3 Bedrooms) and $79 990 (4 Bedrooms). In addition to that, if you were renting while it was being built, AV Jennings paid your rent.

The featured celebrity in this advertisement was Geoff Harvey who was the conductor of the Channel Nine Orchestra and was on The Midday Show with Ray Martin.

Source: AV Jennings. 1991. "No Worries Sale (Advertisement)". The Daily Telegraph Mirror, August 3: 8. 

1991: Sydney's ugliest eyesores as seen by Ron Casey

I just want to keep it simple this week given that it is the school holidays and like every other teacher, should be enjoying it. I thought this was interesting given that the newspapers seem to enjoy putting a feature each year where they explore the eyesores that are found Sydney. The Sunday Telegraph decided to let radio presenter Ron Casey vent his spleen on his eyesores.

He identified the following as Sydney's eyesores:

• The former Reschs Brewery site at East Redfern (now Moore Park Gardens) 
• Taylor Square (everything bar Darlinghurst Courthouse).
• George Street Entertainment Strip
• The Monorail
• Coopers & Lybrand Building (586 George Street)
• Cahill Expressway

In 2015, what do you think Sydney's eyesores are?

Source: Hoyer, M. 1991. "Sydney's Ugliest Eyesores: As seen by Ron Casey - not an architect but he knows what he likes". The Sunday Telegraph, April 7: 14-15

Property Advert of the Week: The Masters Display Home Expo - Elizabeth Hills (1994)

Our property advertisement of the week takes us back to 1994, when Con the Fruiterer was enticing people to check out the display homes available at Elizabeth Hills.



Source: The Masters Display Homes Expo. 1994. "More display homes that you can count (Advertisement)".  The Daily Telegraph Mirror, June 4: 17.

1988: The Bond Building (Chifley Tower) is unveiled

This week, we again come to share when a building or structure was unveiled. Recently, former Billionaire Businessman Alan Bond passed away. Even though he was from Perth, he did have strong business interests in Sydney. Tooheys was part of Bond Brewing. In 1982, he bought department store Waltons. He had property interests as well.

Source: Kelly, M. & Chisholm, B. 1988. "Bond pays record $306m for site: State's offices to topple for hotel". The Daily Telegraph, January 7: page unknown. 

He had proposed a major development of the Waltons Site at Town Hall (Now Galeries Victoria & 1 Park Street) with one of the world's tallest buildings. At the same time, he had proposed another building at Chifley Square, where Commonwealth Offices were based. In early 1988, he had paid over $300 million to buy the Commonwealth Government Centre.

In 1988, he unveiled the Bond Building, which was to replace the building.

Source: Chancellor, J. 1988. "Wraps come off Bond Building". The Sydney Morning Herald, June 22: 5. 

An advertisement advertising tenders for the construction of the tower.

Construction began the following year and was completed in 1992 as planned. You might remember from an entry last year that as part of the construction, he wanted the Commonwealth Government Centre to be imploded, which he was not allowed to do.

Originally, Level 41 was destined to be a penthouse for Bond, but rather became a high-end restaurant which traded for nearly 20 years. The restaurant (Forty One) closed in April 2010. 

Two decades later, it is still one of the most recognisable buildings on the city skyline.

Photo was taken by the Author. 

Property Advert of the Week: Richelieu, Ramsgate (1965)

This weeks property advertisement takes us to Ramsgate where you could buy units in The Richelieu apartment complex in Florence Street. For 4750 pounds ($9500), you could have your own unit within a short walk of the shops and Lady Robinsons Beach. According to the RBA Inflation Calculator, that is the equivalent of $117 000 today.

Source. E. L. Rostron & Co. 1965. "Presenting Beautiful "Richelieu (Advertisement)". The St George and Sutherland Shire Leader, November 10: Page Unknown.