The following is a submitted letter to the Newcastle Herald on the 30th anniversary of the 1979 Star Riots which received world-wide media attention.
A Herald liftout has been published and an exhibition and celebration/commemoration at the Lock Up, Hunter Street, will be held on September 19.
The Star Hotel’s history is diverse, rich and unique. It was an institution in the CBD since it opened in 1855.
Most of its fabric is still there, facing both Hunter and King Streets. This is by sheer good luck, since a proposal to demolish and redevelop was approved in 2004.
I believe the owners should rethink their proposal and incorporate as much of the surviving buildings as possible in any redevelopment. At the very least, the 1922 King St building should be saved.
It’s heritage significance at a local level -architectural, social and historic is very high and the notorious 1979 riot is one the few occasions Newcastle gained world wide publicity. Notorious or not, other cities would celebrate the site’s long history by retaining the buildings.
The Star’s survival has become relatively more important since the unnecessary recent loss of the nearby Palais -another heritage lynchpin gone.
Copies of old photos and a bronze plaque in a new building’ foyer (as proposed for the Palais redevelopment)are token, completely unsatisfactory gestures to the Stars’ history. It’s bricks and mortar still exist, waiting sensitive adaptive recycling.
The current approval wipes out everything, including the art deco Hunter St hotel and former terraces in Devonshire Lane and crudely narrows the lane itself.
It’s ironic that GPT want to create an artificial Melbourne style lane in the Mall, when we have the real thing with Devonshire Lane, potentially a unique cultural landmark in a revitalised West End.
