Bondi Pavilion restoration to begin in June in rare win for community rights
Bondi Pavilion, the grand old deco lady of Bondi overlooking Australia’s most famous beach, is finally about to get a facelift.
After nearly a decade of rancorous debate, lustful looks from developers, community protests and a green ban, the work on restoring the pavilion is expected to begin in June.
The Construction, Forestry Mining and Engineering union on Wednesday lifted a green ban on work after being convinced that the latest plan by Waverley council will preserve the building for the community.
It’s a rare win for community rights over the inexorable forces of development, particularly when one of the most famous views in Sydney is at stake.
“It harks back to the victories of the past,” said a former Waverley mayor, John Wakefield, who as the Bondi ward councillor has led the fight to have the pavilion restored in a way that would keep it for the public.
“It’s a victory for the community, with help from councillors and the union movement.”
The Builders Labourer’s Federation leader, Jack Mundey, whose green bans saved much of Sydney’s historic fabric during the 1970s and who died this month, had, in his latter years, lent his support to the cause of preserving the Pav for the people.
The heart of the debate over the pavilion’s future has been whether the much-overdue restoration of the deco building should be paid for by including commercial facilities, or whether the community should be able to use the building as they had for decades.
Most days there are yoga classes, dance groups, craft workshops and theatre rehearsals in the warren of studios upstairs. The downstairs houses a cafe, a bar on the corner and exhibition space, plus some run-down change rooms for bathers.
Early plans, proposed when the council was in Liberal hands, proposed an extensive $40m renovation which included a bar and restaurant on the upper floor, more retail downstairs and a major expansion of the theatre. The pottery studio was to be relocated.
It drew a furious response from outspoken locals. The actors Michael Caton and Jack Thompson fronted entertaining protests featuring many of Bondi’s celebrities. Hundreds of locals piled into council meetings week after week.
But it was the council elections that determined the Pavilion’s fate. Labor and the Greens regained control of Waverley council in 2016 and immediately scrapped the plan in favour of a more modest $34m makeover that concentrated on restoring the bones of the building and retaining its community functions, while enhancing the experience for visitors.
The new design, by the architects Tonkin Zulaikha Greer, will integrate the outdoor and indoor spaces, connecting Bondi beach to the parklands and Campbell Parade while celebrating the building’s history.
The terracotta roof will be restored to its original cordova pattern, there will be a tourist office, a cultural space called the Bondi Story Room where the history of the local area will be on show, an art gallery, pottery studio, new toilets and change rooms and refurbishment of the Pav’s unique existing rooms.
David Shoebridge, the Greens MP who has also been involved in the campaign, said: “The community and the CFMEU worked together to save this iconic part of Sydney’s heritage, a reminder that it is possible to take on the big end of town and win.
“There could not be a more poignant time to be reminded of the power of green bans given the recent passing of Jack Mundey.”