rising - renewnewcastle.org · '^st ^_ rising ten years ago, newcastle was a desert of...

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risingTen years ago, Newcastle was a desert of unemployment and bleak

prospects. Today, it's one of Australia's hottest places to invest, aworld-leader in urban renewal, and an essential weekend away.

WORDS GEORGIA RICKARD

PHOTOGRAPHY ELISE HASSEY

Ref: 416985276Copyright Agency Limited (CAL) licenced copy

Australian TravellerJuly, 2015Page: 64Section: General NewsRegion: National, AUCirculation: 11530Type: Magazines LifestyleSize: 7,703.00 sq.cms.

of 10AUS: 1300 1 SLICE NZ: 0800 1 SLICE [email protected]

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et us begin this journey with an important disclaimer:this isn't your usual rags to riches fairytale. It isn't astory about a town that started off gritty and dirty tosuddenly be championed. This town certainly didn't riseabove its roots, and it hasn't become so sparkly and welldressed and nice-smelling that it's forgotten it once hada bad perm and was called Charlene.

Certainly there is change happening in Newcastle.Lots of it. Edgy new cafes (slash bakeries slash galleriesslash 'creative spaces'); beautifully restored pubs andbars; fabulously unique shopping (and we mean unique);and a pride about the place that didn't exist 20 years ago.But the really interesting thing? There's been no magicalinflux of wealth. No sudden new development thatcaused crowds to come rushing in. No, Newcastle'stransformation has been a grassroots movement bylocals and/or locals, and unlike most gentrifications,which attract hipsters and poseurs and a sense ofdisconnection, the changes here are bringing thecommunity even closer together.

This is a story of gentrification done differently- and even if you're not likely to visit in the next fewmonths or the next few years, it's a story worth reading.Because this, we're willing to argue, might just be whatthe future of Australia looks like.

A CLEAN SLATESoap is not the most obvious place to begin this tale- for what could a handwash have to do with reinventinga town (besides helping 'clean up the city')? But thisparticular batch, made by Novocastrian Juanita Low,is a wonderful example of what's been happening inthe city since 2008, as part of a world-first initiativecalled Renew Newcastle (renewnewcastle.org).

General manager Chris Saunders doesn't mince hiswords on the topic. "Ten years ago, Newcastle was dead,"he says bluntly. "There were empty buildings all overthe city, 'For Lease' signs on almost every corner and

virtually no life in the CBD - there weren't even peoplewalking down the street." But one local, a gentlemanby the name of Marcus Westbury, saw an opportunity tochange that. What if all the empty buildings could befilled with pop-up stores?

A passionate Novocastrian who'd already foundedthe TINA (This Is Not Art) and National Young Writers'festivals, Westbury was a prime candidate forinstigating the revolution. He immediately beganlooking at ways in which he could find short- andmedium-term uses for the many buildings that werevacant, abandoned or otherwise stuck in the drawn-outapproval process for redevelopment.

"The basic concept was to lend those empty spaces -in office blocks, in department stores, along shop-fronts- to people wanting to start businesses, who were willingto accept an uncertain lease," Saunders explains. On thecondition that properties were returned in a better statethan when lent out - a premise which usually involved alick of paint, and maybe some basic repairs - a deal wasstruck with owners, and suddenly a whole lot of free realestate was up for grabs. Spaces filled quickly.

To be a part of Renew, participants have to gothrough a formalised application process, whichincludes an outline of their business idea. Theirapplication is vetted by Renew's board and matchedto an appropriate property, but there's one catch - thebusiness idea must revolve around a creative industry.

The town saw digital artists, painters, jewellery-makers, furniture designers, milliners, mediaconsultants, potters, musicians, illustrators, authorsand yes, soap makers, coming out of the woodwork. Theynot only became visible contributors to the communityand produced a very different shopping experience, butcompletely renewed the city in the process.

"It's activated empty properties and brought life backto the city," Saunders asserts. "The increased activityhas also attracted prospective tenants." For Low andher soap business, 33 Degrees South, the opportunityhas been life changing. "If it weren't for Renew, I'd stillbe teaching Year Six kids," she says, referencing herprevious incarnation as a school teacher. "I moved herejust because I was accepted into the Renew program,and it gave me a chance to do something here that Iwouldn't have been able to in Sydney." Her store hasbeen open for just five months and already, "I'm notable to keep up with demand," she says happily. "I'mworking at full capacity and it's not enough."

"Renew has changed my life - but it's also changedNewcastle," agrees Andrew Dennis, who is responsiblefor another Renew initiative, a working studio gallerythat holds art classes, called The Art Project (andrewdennis.com.au). "This has been so good for the town.People are really behind it."

You can see the effects of Renew for yourself bytaking a walk along Hunter Street Mall. Five yearsago it was a wasteland of two-dollar shops, but today"it's so full of actual tenants that it's hard to find aspot to offer to prospective Renew participants," says »

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Newcastle has becomeawash with creativepeople turning their

passion into business,with potters,

illustrators and interiordesigners aplenty.

Juanita Low (right) andher soap products (top)

are just one of thesuccess stories.

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Saunders. You'll even find a 'graduate' business of theprogram: stationery and homewares store Studio Melt(studiomelt.com.au) was so successful as a pop-up storethat owners Susie Manning and Ange Hailey progressedto taking on a full-time lease. They have stocked thestore with their own handmade jewellery and art,products by other Renew participants - thinkMarimekko-inspired cloth handbags, earrings madewith silver and coal (sourced from Newcastle, of course),and quirky illustrations on postcards - as well as thewares of international designers.

Overall, the program has launched more than 70 newcreative projects in more than 40 once-empty buildings,like the iconic former David Jones department store.Once forlorn, the building's ground floor has beenreworked as 'The Emporium': a bazaar filled with unique,handcrafted wares from industrial furniture and leathergoods, to vintage clothing and some surprisinglysophisticated millinery (Jacebook.com/the.emporium).

But what's most amazing about this little local projectis the number of ripples it's had both nationally, andacross the world. In 2011, as a direct result of Renew,Lonely Planet declared Newy one of the world's top 10cities in their annual 'Best in Travel' awards. Westburyhas since moved to Melbourne, where he has set upRenew Australia, a consultancy service to help otherareas draw out their own creative communities. Several'Renew' schemes have since launched at locationsincluding Adelaide, Townsville, Eurobodalla, Cooma,Melbourne, Sydney, Greensborough, Geelong, Creswick,Clunes and Talbot in Australia; Lisbon, Rotterdam andCopenhagen in Europe; and Toronto in Canada. Staytuned - in the next 10 years, there's a good chance theproject will be coming to a town near you.

ART IN THE CLINKWithout an enormous influx of wealth, Newcastle'sgentrification has required some creative adaptions ofexisting spaces. Several pubs are currently undergoingfacelifts (walk along Darby Street or the HoneysucklePrecinct for evidence) and office blocks are being turnedinto speakeasies (more on that in a moment). But themost outstanding, if somewhat spooky, example is abuilding on government-owned land: The Lock-Up.

"From 1861 to 1982, this building was a police stationand lock up," explains Jessi England Sideris, The Lock-up's director. "These days it's an art gallery." After itstime as a police station, The Lock-Up was a culturalcentre, a heritage centre and a museum, among otherincarnations, but in 2013 it became a dedicatedexhibition space.

"It's an amazing way to use Crown Land," she says."It's such a loaded space that it can be quite aninteresting place for artists to show their work. Ourresidency program has become quite well known in thenational art community." It's not hard to see why. Youcan view artworks inside 'Cell A', which measures lessthan two square-metres and is a significant example ofcolonial penal design, as well as an eerie space for themoving projection currently on display there (a snippetof history: the cell size was introduced by Governor

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Gipps in 1838 as an economy measure). Or admirethe sculpture in 'Cell C, an even creepier setting: thebrown leather walls curve inwards, covered in scratchedgraffiti made by bored prisoners.

Was the concept inspired by Renew? "That initiativelaid the path for opportunities for new endeavoursall over town," confirms England Sideris. "It's had aprofound effect on the cultural and commerciallandscape of Newcastle."

A LUCKY PLACEPerhaps because the city has shunned neon lights andaggressive development, the past seems a lot closer inNewcastle. Its heritage streetscapes, in particular, are anabsolute delight to take a walk along, with buildingsrepresenting almost every era and a glut of those fromthe 1800s, still wonderfully intact. There are also severalpubs that date back to the town's earliest days, includingone owned by the ex-Lord Mayor of Newcastle, Jeff McCloy.

The Lucky Hotel might sound like a fortunate placebut, like so many buildings in Newcastle, it sat empty »




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The Lock-Up's oftenthought-provokingexhibition space isan essential stop

(this image) beforetaking in some of

the city's boutique

shops on DarbyStreet for handmadecrafts, accessories

and trinkets.

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ALSO WORTH CHECKING OUT...

Brand-newFoghorn BreweryHit up the newlyminted FogHornBrewHouse. 218AKing St; facebook.com/Foghornbrewhouse.newcastle

The awesomeshopping onDarby StreetThere's lots to seeand a warm villageatmosphere here.newcastlenow.org.au/precincts/darbyst.htm

The Edwards CafeFrequented byup-and-comingactress and Newygirl Isabelle Cornish.

148 Parry St;theedwards.com.au

Shop at High TeaWith Mrs WooA beautiful storeselling Australian-made clothes, mostlyin natural fibres likewool, cotton, silkand linen. 75 DarbySt; highteawithmrswoo.com.au

Eat at chocolateriaCoco MondeThey make everythingon site, includingtheir own ice-cream,marshmailows and,of course, chocolate.80 Darby St;cocomonde.com.au




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Beneath therubble, however,

was an incredibleamount ofhistory...

and unused for nearly a decade before McCloy and hisfamily restored it to its rightful condition. It makes fora particularly heartwarming success story for the sheerbreadth of its scale. The $6.5 million commitment -personally funded by McCloy - was "a love project," hisdaughter Hayley admits. "It used to be a place you'd cometo watch bands," explains Hayley, who is also the pub'smarketing manager. "But it closed when Newcastle's livemusic scene slowed down." She gestures at the courtyard,a palatable version of Newcastle's old soul, served upwith a vertical garden, polished concrete floors and a barserving craft beer. "This wasn't even a courtyard - therehad been so many add-ons to the building over the years,it was a big ramshackle mess."

Beneath the rubble, however, was an incredibleamount of history - including a variety of glass bottles."We found them when we dug up the building'sfoundations; some of them date back to the early 1800s.The Lucky Hotel first opened for business in the 1860s,but the bottles are thought to have been brought in [andreused]." The bottles feature on two walls of The Lucky.They're not only a small reminder of the pub's richheritage, but a gorgeously apt example of Novocastriancreativity at work: a means of fusing modern design withNewcastle's past to push local enterprise forward."There's a lot of nostalgia here," says Hayley. "This wasa special place not just historically, but in recent timesfor many Novocastrians. We often hear stories like, 'Isaw my first band here', or 'I met my husband 20 yearsago in that corner where the billyard tables used to be.'"To pay homage to that, a custom-designed 'drumkitchandelier' hangs from the ceiling of the main bar area.

CYCLING CITYThe city's changing face and flourishing reputation is notonly attracting young creatives, but experiencedproblem-solvers who bring with them innovativesolutions to age-old problems. Monica Zarafu movedfrom Romania to Australia seven years ago, with ascholarship to the CSIRO in transport planning."Australia has several public transport issues and Ithought, somebody should do something," she says.Coming from Europe, where the culture in cycling hastangibly helped address congestion issues in cities, shedecided to take matters into her own hands. She leftCSIRO and started an automated bicycle hire service inNewcastle's CBD. "It just felt like the right place to start."

Initially targeting hotel guests - the main hire stationis just outside the Crowne Plaza Hotel - she noticed that »

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CLOCKWISE FROM TOPRIGHT: The Lucky Hotel'sdrumkit chandelier II Thebar at The Lucky offers arange of craft beers in a

carefully consideredsetting II Heritage hasn'tbeen neglected with thepub's antique bottles on

display II A perfectsetting for weekend

cocktails II Lunch can behad under The Lucky's

hanging garden.

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locals had begun making use of the bikes too, "whichis the best news," she says. "My dream is to get thegovernment involved, just as in Melbourne andBrisbane, and to have connected cycleways here."

Though you might struggle to ride the whole wayaround town (it's hilly in areas), the council has alreadyinstalled a picturesque pathway that runs along theforeshore, so you can cycle from the Honeysuckleprecinct (where the bikes are found) either away fromthe beaches or towards Nobbys Beach, via thelighthouse, then round the headland and onward toNewcastle Ocean Baths, Newcastle Beach, King EdwardPark and beyond. Make sure you stop for a coffee atEstabar, a forward-thinking coffee shop serving localproduce and fabulous lattes, and for a swim at TheBogey Hole, a hand-hewn pool built by convicts for thepersonal use of a visiting commandant in 1819.

DOWN-TO-EARTH DININGOwner of acclaimed Hunter Valley winery and hattedrestaurant Margan, Lisa Margan is no stranger to thehospitality game, but she says Newcastle is its ownspecific market. "You need to know this city before youopen anything here," she asserts. "It's unpretentious andvery comfortable in its own skin. You try anything thatfeels contrived, and the city will sniff it out. Locals canspot inauthenticity a mile off."

This knowledge was front of mind when Margandecided to open an upmarket bar in the Honeysuckleentertainment precinct - a daring move, consideringthe area was known, until recently, for its dual offeringsof tap beer and brawls. "We wanted to raise the bar - nopun intended - without putting anyone off," she explains.

The Landing has been welcomed with open arms."Newcastle was ready for it," says Margan. "We'veattracted our own clientele to the precinct," addssommelier Trent Alder. "But Newcastle's wholehospitality scene is changing. Previously it was justbig pubs; now there are many better venues to findemployment in. We even have our first two-hattedrestaurant." Like Alder, bartender Josh O'Brien(pictured right), has worked at The Landing since itsopening. After stints in Paris, New York and Dubai, hemoved home to discover that the town had "an energyaround that wasn't here five years ago. There's just moreconfidence here; people are willing to try new things."

While not every hospitality venture is as slicklyexecuted as Margan's, there are some real gems to befound among the plethora of new venues here. "Peopletold us no one would understand a cocktail bar, that allNewcastle wanted was craft beer and vodka red bulls,but I believe I sell more cocktails here on a nightly basisthan almost any bar in Sydney," says Ethan Ortlipp. Onehalf of the duo behind wildly successful bar Coal andCedar - which Ortlipp co-founded with business partnerRyan Hawthorne - Ortlipp says Newcastle has beenmistakenly dismissed in the hospitality industry. "It'salways been considered untouchable. The lock-out lawswere trialled here and that's what it's known for inindustry circles."

Ortlipp, on the other hand, long suspected that peoplewere "crying out for something new". His 'speakeasy'concept was a daring one regardless. With no website, nophysical address listing, no phone number and nosignage, and only an Instagram account as a means ofpromotion, he took what traditional marketers wouldconsider a sizeable risk. "We had a line out the door onour very first night," Ortlipp says.

The bar itself is brilliantly executed - done on a lowbudget, though so well thought-out that it's forgivably so- and set in an old bank, which had been converted intodepressing office spaces and then sat, unused, onNewcastle's busiest street for over a decade. Unthinkable!Ortlipp and Hawthorne have since opened a secondrestaurant, The Bowery Boys, which serves adventurousfood till midnight every day. "This is the most innovative,young city I've ever seen," Ortlipp states. "Everyone'schatting about what it's going to be like soon, there arelots of young people venturing out and starting their ownbusinesses. It's almost an anthropological experiment." •




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CLOCKWISE FROM TOPLEFT: The Landing has

been a roaring success inthe Honeysuckle

entertainment district IIBartender Josh O'Brien

prepares cocktails at TheLanding II New addition

to Newcastle's diningscene Coal and Cedar IIDinner at new opening

The Bowery Boys.

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