SOLD

I dreamed a dream in time gone by,
When hope was high,
And architecture worth saving,
I dreamed that heritage would never die,
I dreamed the ministers would be forgiving,
But I was young and too naïve,
So dreams were made and sandstone wasted,

But $35 Million has now been paid,
And the developers come at night,
With their voices soft as thunder,
As they tear the city’s past apart,
And they turn Sydney’s dream to shame…

- In the style of Susan Boyle, I dreamed a dream

Despite this being more of a rant, I must confess, I had never thought until I returned to Sydney, that I would ever believe capitalism to be at the root of some great cosmic evil. Though for the mere price of AUD$35 Million, it appears that the deal has been sealed and the fate of Sydney’s last public sandstone assets given away to Singaporeans for ninety-nine years. I will not attempt to presume but if James Barnet did not turn in his grave when the Crystal Boudoir Burlesque show opened at the General Post Office, then he surely will be tossing and turning today, knowing that his jewels of civic pride are now to be privatised. 

Having grown up in Hong Kong, which can certainly be described the city of capitalism, I do not immediately find money and economies of scale to be perverse. What is however perverse and what breaks my heart is that despite the assurances of respect for art and architecture (read the papers, the developers said it themselves), these buildings will never be genuinely appreciated by the citizens of the city. Although currently inhabited by the ever growing bureaucracy of government, these buildings were, once, departments which freely allowed people to move in, make requests and essentially, inhabit on a day-to-day basis. When locals are attend the future burlesque shows at the Department of Education building, will they be there to appreciate the flowing lines and suppleness of sandstone, or the smooth derrieres of the lap dancers? Will be attempt to retain the 19th Century arcades and timber framed entrances, or shall we seal it all in glass? Will we be taking down the clock tower, in aid of installing three additional storeys to the perfectly proportioned building?

In the deluded vision of grandeur, the self-proclaimed deities of government, known as Ministers have concluded that privatisation of public buildings is the best way forward. Schools, galleries and museums are of course, unimportant. Afterall, no voter will keep you in office if you value Ruskin and Matisse over money and employment. Bringing ‘much needed employment’ serves a higher purpose – it ensures re-election, and thus, we can cast off our 19th Century buildings for the price of private houses in the city’s eastern suburbs. 

It is perhaps equally appropriate that the city was not aware of such news and that the reports were melted away into the insignificant back of the business pages, without much discussion, the last monuments to the past have now been lost forever. Shrouding this discourse on this development of the city fabric is of course Sydney’s rotating door of Federal politics. I, alas, will spend these days wandering through the city lamenting its failure to protect its very own soul and for now, in the words of Shakespeare, 

Our revels now are ended,
These our sandstones as I foretold you,
Are melted into air, into thin air:
And, like the baseless fabric of this vision…
The solemn temples, the great globe itself…
Shall dissolve…

- The Tempest, Act IV, Scene I