Part Two – post 1920s - Newcastle City Council

The Peddle Thorpe/Walker and Holland Constructions plan was refined and in
October 1994 an acceptable design solution was arrived at for the Fred c Ash building,
which would be kept in its continuous length and adaptively reused for offices. A
walkway through the building formed by opening up two bays was agreed to. This
allowed direct access between Wheeler Place and Burwood Street and opened up land
for further public space. Restoration that preserved the historic features according to
Burra Charter conservation guidelines was subsequently undertaken. The rear section
and upper floors were available for council office space and negotiations with
Westpac brought the bank into the front section on the ground floor as a tenant. In
October 1997 the Fred c Ash building reopened for business as Westpac Civic Branch.
(The tenancy was terminated in February 2000 and the space was taken for additional
council purposes.)
In 1995, Council engaged heritage consultants Godden Mackay Pty Ltd to prepare a
Heritage Impact Statement for the remaining early 20 th century buildings on the
Newcastle Civic Site. 110
Restoration of the Clarendon Hotel and the construction of a new extension for
accommodation occurred in 1997 and 1998 and the hotel reopened in December 1999.
A new building that opened onto Wheeler Place was erected at the rear of the Bennett
building.
A new office building (called the part round building) was proposed to replace the
new Fred c Ash warehouse but the scheme was not implemented. Instead, in 1999
council approached three architecture companies to submit adaptive reuse designs for
the warehouse. Their ideas included premium residential, affordable residential,
public use, hotel accommodation and commercial offices. Cost estimates indicated
that all adaptive reuses would need subsidisation by council. Demolition or façade
retention only opportunities were not analysed. 111
In the Peddle Thorpe/Holland plan, new two or three storey buildings on the vacant
land between the Clarendon Hotel and Burwood Street were designed to maintain the
scale of the Hunter Street streetscape and step up to taller buildings on the Burwood
Street corner and the Darby Street corner.
In 1997/8 the opportunity arose to build an office block for lease to Telstra. The
corner site of Darby and Burwood Streets (the former Royal Hotel and City Motel)
was chosen. New technology and building methods enabled safe foundation for this
low-rise stepped building, which is constructed above historic coalmines. 112
Recently the cleared site (used for car parking since 1992) on the corner of Hunter and
Burwood Streets has been offered for sale by public tender, inviting development of
this vacant area guided by the plan. 113
31 Wheeler Place – celebration ceremony and performance
Wheeler Place was named for Harry Lambert Wheeler (1889-1982) who was mayor
of Newcastle Council from 1928 to 1929, when the Town Hall and Civic Theatre
110 Heritage Impact Statement for the Newcastle Civic Site, Godden Mackay 1996
111 Newcastle City Council Minutes Item 143 of 17 August 1999
112 Newcastle Herald 11 December 1996
113 Newcastle Herald 19 August 1999
Newcastle Civic and Cultural Precinct History ~ Cynthia Hunter ~ January 2003 page 64