Industrial Cathedral

Industrial Cathedral
"Industrial Cathedral" charcoal on paper 131 x 131 cm Jane Bennett. Finalist in 1998 Dobell Drawing Prize Art Gallery of NSW Finalist 1998 Blake Prize Winner 1998 Hunter's Hill Open Art Prize

About Me

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Sydney, NSW, Australia
I'm an Industrial Heritage Artist who paints "en plein air".If it's damaged, derelict, doomed and about to disappear, I'll be there to paint it.
Showing posts with label Terminus Hotel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Terminus Hotel. Show all posts

Tuesday 28 July 2020

In the pink -the former Pyrmont Arms Hotel, Harris Street Pyrmont

The former pub 'The Pyrmont Arms' was at 42-44 Harris Street, Pyrmont on the corner of Harris and Bowman Streets.
Built in the 1870s,it closed in the early 1990s when the CSR refinery and distillery were progressively shut down and demolished to make way for the Jackson's landing development. Since then, it has been renovated as retail outlets, restaurants and home units.

P248 The 'Pyrmont Arms' from the CSR 1
1990 oil on canvas 31 x 31cm
I first painted the Pyrmont Arms Hotel as a bird's eye view from the roof of the CSR refinery.I had been the 'Artist in Residence' at the CSR Refinery from the late 1980s to the start of its demolition in the mid 1990s. I had previously been painting at the top of the Panhouse, but one day in a fit of bravery I decided to paint from the top of the Boilerhouse next to the chimneys.
The CSR boilerhouse is now the site of the 'Elizabeth' apartment block of the Jackson's Landing LendLease development.
The Pyrmont Arms Hotel was then still an operating pub and was painted a grubby faded pale pinkish beige. On the back of the pub's western side facing the Scott Street squats, there was a huge ad for 'Have a cold gold KB', unfortunately not visible from my rooftop studio. Across the road was the brick facade of the CSR chem labs.
It didn't stand out from the rest of the rather dingy terraces at the 'Land's End' of Harris street, but what caught my eye was the contrast between the terraces and the overgrown area around the squats that was rapidly turning into a wilderness. I painted a small square canvas focussing on just the Pyrmont Arms, and resolved one day to paint a panorama of the northern end of Harris Street from this vantage point.

P249 'Pyrmont panorama- from the CSR '
1991 oil on canvas 46 x 92cm
A few months later, I climbed the many levels of revolting, sugar syrup encrusted stairs to the top of the CSR boilerhouse again, to paint this panorama, and was startled to find that the formerly almost unnoticeable pub had succumbed to a brash attempt at 'renovation'.
Weirdly, it shared the same revolting shade of pink with another dying pub at the other end of Pyrmont, the 'New York Hotel' in Edward Street, opposite the Pyrmont Power Station.
This fluoro paint job was such a product of its time that it defined the late 1980s to 1990s, a period without style or taste. I remember leggings and jumpers in that same fabulously horrid "glow in the dark" colour, possibly an over-reaction against the ochres and browns of the 1970s. In architecture, it was known not very fondly as "Paddington Pink" or "Paddo pink" for short, although the examples in Paddington itself were much more muted.

P248B 'The 'Pyrmont Arms' from the CSR 2'
1991 oil on canvas 31 x 31cm
It made the Pyrmont Arms stick out like a sore thumb from the dingy red brick warehouses and bond stores, and not in a good way.
I don't know if it was still an operating pub then or whether the new paint job was a desperate last ditch attempt to attract customers or preparation for its sale and possible redevelopment.
For the truth was that the pubs of Pyrmont were hanging by a thread. Their customers were gone with the destruction or relocation of the local industries that had employed them, and the industries of Pyrmont's future were yet to replace them.
The CSR Refinery and Distillery, which had replaced the sandstone quarrymen of northern Pyrmont a century before, was almost deserted and would be demolished and replaced with Jackson's Landing by the middle of the decade. But there was a strange interregnum before the new apartments were built and filled with inhabitants, and the northern end of Harris Street was a ghost town.
The iconic Terminus Hotel, only 2 blocks further up Harris Street, had already ceased trading a decade before, and stood abandoned, neglected and a constant source of speculation for the next 30 years, before its very recent renovation. How the 'Royal Pacific', later to be rechristened the 'Pyrmont Point'/ 'Point Hotel', ever kept on trading is a much bigger mystery that any of the urban myths swirling around the 30 year vacancy of the Terminus.
What is it with the lurid colour schemes inflicted on moribund pubs?
Far from Pyrmont, another doomed hotel, the 'Jolly Frog' also got the pink treatment not long before it suffered one of those mysterious fires that afflict abandoned buildings.
They must have used the same colourblind painter and decorator. And he must have got the paint at a huge discount, or it might have 'fallen off the back of a truck'.
Either way, it didn't work. All closed as pubs not long after.

P248C '42 Harris st -ex Pyrmont Arms'
2012 oil on canvas 31 x 31cm
The 'New York Hotel' has been painted a tasteful off-white, and is now a medical centre, of all things!
'The Pyrmont Arms' has now been painted a dull blue on the ground floor and a muted yellow for the upper floors. It is no longer a hotel, but has been reasonably sympathetically renovated and is now a combination of apartments above and a bottle-o below.
And the Jolly Frog, 6 years after its devastating fire, is still awaiting redevelopment.

Related Posts







Tuesday 30 June 2020

The Milky bar kid - old milkbar 74 Harris Street

Today's painting on the easel of my deck gallery is a 2009 plein air oil painting of a derelict abandoned old shop in Pyrmont, fondly, but wrongly known as the "old bakery".
Plein air oil painting of the old milkbar/bakery corner of Harris and John Street Pyrmont by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
P257A 'Old milkbar aka 'bakery'
corner of John and Harris St'
2009 oil on canvas 51 x 61cm
Available


















As far as I can remember the actual bakery was a few doors down and the corner shop was a milkbar, but we're talking at least 3 decades ago.
My standout memory of it when it was in its last days of operation was how rubbish I was at playing their "Fussball" machine, which was lines of wooden footballers attached to a stick that you tried to manoeuver by a lever to kick the ball.
Not a single goal!
The legendary Terminus Hotel on the opposite side of Harris Street, and like its more famous counterpart, was part of the Wakil's real life Monopoly game. They had a landbanking empire of quirky, derelict buildings which were loathed by local residents as eyesores but cherished by artists like myself.
Aren't Artists a perverse bunch - we ignore all the shiny new developments and make straight for the 'shame of the neighbourhood' to immortalize it!
Plein air oil painting of the old milkbar/bakery corner of Harris and John Street Pyrmont by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
P257A 'Old milkbar aka 'bakery'
corner of John and Harris St'
2009 oil on canvas 51 x 61cm
Available



















The continuous row of 19th century 2 storey terrace houses between Nos 74 and 80 Harris Street are still part of the Wakil collection of formerly derelict buildings, which once included the iconic Terminus Hotel opposite.
The row of  terraces have rendered brick shopfronts and skillion roofed wings at the rear. They are plainly detailed, with only a string course to the facades as decoration, and a Victorian/Georgian flavour in their design. Door openings are rectangular, and window openings are also rectangular as well as slightly segmentally arched. They are without parapet or verandahs and feature corrugated iron gable roofs with low corniced or corbelled chimneys.

Plein air acrylic painting of the old milkbar/bakery corner of Harris and John Street Pyrmont by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
P256A 'Old Milkbar (aka 'Bakery'),
corner of Harris and John St'
2009 acrylic on paper 21 x 28cm
Available

















No 74 is similar to the rest, but was a corner shop and is faceted with a corner entrance. It  was a milkbar for a long time, although often and wrongly referred to as the 'old bakery'.
Number 82 was the actual site of the "old bakery", although now the entire block seems to have adopted this name.

Plein air oil painting of the old milkbar/bakery corner of Harris and John Street Pyrmont by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
P257 'Old bakery corner of John and Harris St'
2012 oil on board  35 x 28cm

Available





















For many years the corner and north facing doorways were boarded up and featured an endless layering of illegal posters promoting long forgotten bands.
 
Plein air acrylic painting of the old milkbar/bakery corner of Harris and John Street Pyrmont by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
P256B 'Old Milkbar and 'Chicks on Harris''
2009 acrylic on paper 21 x 28cm

Available

















Until about 2014, No 82 still partly kept up the milk bar tradition,traded as a "charcoal chicken" outlet called "Chicks on Harris".
Bearing in mind the seedy reputations of previous establishments at the north end of Harris St, I'm not sure that the owners had really thought through the implications of their name!
Milk bars are now imbued with mythical qualities they never possessed in life. In decline and death, they’re trendy and retro.


P256 'Black Dog (old milkbar -
aka 'bakery' from John St)'
2009 oil on board 31 x 25cm
Available


No 74 has now been recently and very sympathetically redeveloped by the current occupants - appropriately, 'Belle Property' real estate agents. And now it really is a 'belle' property indeed.
It's been painted a tasteful off-white shade, and the former layers of peeling posters have been replaced by large picture windows.
I couldn't resist having a sneaky peek inside.
The interior still has the original wall material visible, and the beautiful old hardwood stairs have been polished, but otherwise in their original state. The architraves are dark walnut stained hardwood, but the rotting floors had collapsed long ago and had to be replaced with polished concrete.
The huge tree outside is a relic from when both sides of John Street were edged with a row of trees whose branches would meet in the middle of the street to form a cathedral-like canopy. Lush and cool in summer, but most beautiful in winter when the feeble rays of the sun would pierce through the tracery of bare branches.
A lovely tree, but its roots went straight for the plumbing, and the pavement outside is cracked and humped by the twisting roots underneath. I know that a few years ago, several people had considered this old shop on as a renovation project, but weren't quite crazy-brave enough to take it on.

For more information about Harris and John Street in Pyrmont, including the Terminus and Pyrmont Point Hotels
see My Pyrmont page in this blog

Related posts



Looking over the overlooked-Urban decay in Pyrmont
To the Point
Wrong side of the tracks - Darling Island Bond and Free

Pretty vacant

A Tale of two hotels - the Terminus and the Point

The bad twin of Pyrmont Street

Pyrmont Paintings past and present


Sunday 8 April 2018

Terminus Redux

I have mixed feelings about the renovation of the Terminus.
Although it's been restored,not demolished or replaced by apartment blocks as so often happens, it has been stripped of its poetry.
Plein air ink and charcoal painting of the renovation and redevelopment of the Terminus Hotel corner of John and Harris Street Pyrmont painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
P286A 'Terminus Redux'
2017-8 ink, charcoal on paper 131 x 106cm
Enquiries :
janecooperbennett@gmail.com
I painted a large mixed media work on paper, as well as an even larger oil on canvas, just before the iconic vines were removed. The awning had been stripped back to a fragile skeleton, but the bricks had yet to be sand-blasted.
However well a place is renovated, inevitably there must be compromises between keeping the original character and making it a viable business.
No expense was spared on the fitout.The designers and architects have done their best to restore the old pub building while retaining quite a lot of the original pub from tiles to timber. The pressed metal ceiling upstairs is a sympathetic replacement not the original, which was too badly damaged.
Plein air oil painting of the renovation and redevelopment of the Terminus Hotel corner of John and Harris Street Pyrmont painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
P286 'Terminus Redux'
2017-8 oil on canvas 122 x 183cm

I miss the vine-covered facade. It had probably been planted early in the 20th century by a CSR employee, as the same species of Virginia creeper covered the manager's residence and the courtyard of the 'Rum Store'.
Recently I attended the launch of Shirley Fitzgerald's wonderful book on the history of the Terminus. I was honoured that Shirley had asked me to contribute a photo of one of my paintings of the Terminus facing opposite its longtime companion and rival, the Pyrmont Point Hotel (aka the Royal Pacific).
Plein air oil painting of the Point Hotel and the Terminus Hotel corner of John and Harris Street Pyrmont painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
P252 'The Terminus and the Point'
2011 oil on canvas 31 x 61cm
Private Collection : Sydney
Enquiries :
janecooperbennett@gmail.com
When I went upstairs, I almost walked into one of the walls, not from one too many cocktails, but because I'd expected the hall that once led through to the building next door. I believe this passageway had to be closed off due to updated fire regulations.
A typical pub menu, priced rather steeply, cashes in on the hipster ambience from the 32 years that the Terminus spent as an icon of urban decay.
As a contrast, when I'd visited the Terminus prior to its closure in the early 1980s, they were giving out free food. Possibly this had contributed to its original decline and fall.
The new owners aren't making that mistake, quite the opposite.
Ironically despite having kept the ghost sign outside, no Resch's is on tap.
For more information about the Terminus and Pyrmont Point Hotels

Sunday 27 August 2017

Let there be rock

Plein air oil painting of the excavation between Harris and Mount street Pyrmont for the 'New Life' development  painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
Starting my painting of the
'Excavation between Harris and Mount Streets, Pyrmont'
2017 oil on canvas 51 x 61cm
Available

Not far south of the Terminus Hotel, another formerly ignored and derelict site is being gentrified.
There was a 'no man's land' between Harris and Mount streets which was an overgrown wasteland, with the southern end used as a carpark for the past 3 decades.
Plein air oil painting painted from the roof of the Pyrmont Power Station showing Harris Street, the CSR Distillery, by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
P241B 'Panorama from the roof of Pyrmont Power Station
from Harris St, Mount St to the CSR Distillery'
1991 oil on canvas 31 x 61cm
Available
This is a small canvas I painted from the roof of the Chem-Lab of the Pyrmont Power Station in 1991, looking west towards the ethanol tanks of the CSR Distillery. In the centre is the handsome vine-covered Federation building that was once the house of the CSR Manager. The carpark can be seen to the right of the Manager's house.
Clumps of pampas grass used to poke through the badly laid bitumen, which was covered with weeds and strewn with discarded bongs.
This wasteland occasionally featured as a backdrop for early 1980s rock video clips.
Only a brick pier wall facing Mount st and a tumbledown graffitied sandstone block wall remained above ground level as relics of the row of terraces once occupying that site. The terraces had been pulled down long before I started to paint in Pyrmont.
Plein air oil painting of the excavation between Harris and Mount street Pyrmont for the 'New Life' development  painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
Starting my painting of the
'Excavation between Harris and Mount Streets, Pyrmont'
2017 oil on canvas 51 x 61cm
Available 
The carpark has now been excavated, revealing the golden sandstone beneath. This is one of the few remaining still undeveloped sites in Pyrmont, and I took the rare opportunity to paint the honey coloured tones of the yellowblock sandstone before it is removed and construction starts.
It isn't far from the McCaffery's stables, which had been built over the legendary 'Paradise Quarry', where the best quality sandstone in Sydney had been extracted.
Plein air oil painting of the excavation between Harris and Mount street Pyrmont for the 'New Life' development  painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
Starting my painting of the
'Excavation between Harris and Mount Streets, Pyrmont'
2017 oil on canvas 51 x 61cm
Available 
Under the bitumen, an archaeologist's dig had revealed a cobbled sandstone path, a neatly finished sandstone cesspit, carved sandstone steps and mysterious carvings. One of the carved images resembled a child-like version of a church or chapel. Paul Gye aka 'Pyrmonstrosity Pyrmontosis', who has dedicated many hours into painstakingly and expertly researching Pyrmont's hidden history, has concluded that these carvings might have dated from as early as 1840 and could refer to Dr JD Lang’s Presbyterian ‘Long Lost Chapel of Pyrmont’. The full album of photos of 'Pyrmonstrosity Pyrmontosis' site visit with photos of the carvings can be seen at Facebook album : Archaeological Site Visit - Mount & Harris Streets - 10 May 2017
The chapel was later relocated to Ultimo, and its current location is the 'Mustard Seed' ministry in Bulwara Street (ironically opposite the Lord Wolseley Hotel).
Unfortunately despite their unique heritage value, the carvings have by now been completely destroyed by the excavation.

Plein air oil painting of the excavation between Harris and Mount street Pyrmont for the 'New Life' development  painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
Starting my painting of the
'Excavation between Harris and Mount Streets, Pyrmont'
2017 oil on canvas 51 x 61cm
Available 
During my site visit, I tried to persuade the archaeologists to let me paint on site before the demolition started, but they gave me the brush off, no pun intended.
Frustratingly I had to peer through the hoardings and shadecloth.
Plein air oil painting of the excavation between Harris and Mount street Pyrmont for the 'New Life' development  painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
Starting my painting of the
'Excavation between Harris and Mount Streets, Pyrmont'
2017 oil on canvas 51 x 61cm
Available 
The 2,300sq metre site on the south-western side of the Terminus Hotel, will be soon transformed into a collection of 15 low-rise terrace houses, aka the 'New Life Pyrmont' project.
Plein air oil painting of the excavation between Harris and Mount street Pyrmont for the 'New Life' development  painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
My painting of the
'Excavation between Harris and Mount Streets, Pyrmont'
2017 oil on canvas 51 x 61cm
Available 
I persuaded a kind passer-by to hold up my painting so I could take a good photo of it against the demolition.
The top half of the stairs once leading from Harris Street to the carpark have already been demolished, and the Harris Street frontage has been completely excavated and removed to allow trucks to enter and remove the sandstone.
I've heard that the terraces have been designed to incorporate some of the excavated sandstone from the site.

Sunday 20 August 2017

Terminus Indeterminate

Plein air oil painting of the renovation of the Terminus Hotel corner of John and Harris Street Pyrmont painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
Starting a new canvas of the 'Terminus Hotel',
2017 oil on canvas 56 x 76cm

The Terminus Hotel, corner of John and Harris St, Pyrmont is being renovated after over 20 years of not so benign neglect as part of the Wakil's collection of derelict inner city buildings.
The former poster child of urban decay has fallen to the inexorable tide of gentrification. It won't be totally obliterated as so many unfortunate heritage icons all over Sydney have been.
Plein air oil painting of the renovation of the Terminus Hotel corner of John and Harris Street Pyrmont painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
Starting a new canvas of the 'Terminus Hotel',
2017 oil on canvas 56 x 76cm
Available
Enquiries
Hopefully as much as possible of its quirky heritage will be retained, but at this stage it is difficult to predict the outcome, as so much depends on the personal taste of the developers, architects and designers.
Plein air oil painting of the renovation of the Terminus Hotel corner of John and Harris Street Pyrmont painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
Starting a new canvas of the 'Terminus Hotel',
2017 oil on canvas 56 x 76cm
Available

The cantilevered rusty steel awning has just been stripped down to a skeletal framework. It matches the bare branches of the tree on the corner of John and Harris St opposite the old bakery.
I don't know if the awning will be removed or restored.
Usually I paint the Terminus from the other side of Harris St, to pair it with its rival pub, the Pyrmont Point (aka 'the Royal Pacific). However, one of its most distinctive characteristics, the distinctive parapet skyline, a key feature of Federation Free Style architecture is best displayed from the John st vantage point.
Plein air oil painting of the renovation of the Terminus Hotel corner of John and Harris Street Pyrmont painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
Starting a new canvas of the 'Terminus Hotel',
2017 oil on canvas 56 x 76cm
Available

Some tendrils of the Virginia creeper that once covered most of its facade still cling to the top. It was possibly the only thing binding all the bricks together.

Plein air oil painting of the renovation of the Terminus Hotel corner of John and Harris Street Pyrmont painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
Starting a new canvas of the 'Terminus Hotel',
2017 oil on canvas 56 x 76cm
Available
Enquiries
The creeper is usually (and wrongly) known as 'ivy', however ivy doesn't change to russet tones in autumn, or drop its leaves for winter.

Plein air oil painting of the renovation of the Terminus Hotel corner of John and Harris Street Pyrmont painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
Starting a new canvas of the 'Terminus Hotel',
2017 oil on canvas 56 x 76cm
Available

The same creeper also covers much of the facade of the CSR manager's house further south down Harris St. An entire courtyard in the CSR refinery used to resemble a jungle.
Plein air oil painting of the renovation of the Terminus Hotel corner of John and Harris Street Pyrmont painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
Starting a new canvas of the 'Terminus Hotel',
2017 oil on canvas 56 x 76cm
Available

Long before 'green walls' became fashionable decor, the south facade of the building now rather bizarrely known as the 'Rum Store' was entirely covered in Virginia creeper from floor to ceiling.

Plein air oil painting of the renovation of the Terminus Hotel corner of John and Harris Street Pyrmont painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
Starting a new canvas of the 'Terminus Hotel',
2017 oil on canvas 56 x 76cm
Available

I've always wondered whether the Virginia creeper so prevalent in the Pyrmont of the last part of the 20th century had been planted by the same shade craving person.

Plein air oil painting of the renovation of the Terminus Hotel corner of John and Harris Street Pyrmont painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
Starting a new canvas of the 'Terminus Hotel',
2017 oil on canvas 56 x 76cm
Available

I'm glad that I took the opportunity to capture this moment. This is possibly the last time the Terminus will be in anything resembling its original state or composed of its original materials.

Plein air oil painting of the renovation of the Terminus Hotel corner of John and Harris Street Pyrmont painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
Starting a new canvas of the 'Terminus Hotel',
2017 oil on canvas 56 x 76cm
Available

It won't be very long before the Terminus is boarded up to undergo the sort of serious structural alterations that will be required for its reinvention.

Plein air oil painting of the renovation of the Terminus Hotel corner of John and Harris Street Pyrmont painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
Starting a new canvas of the 'Terminus Hotel',
2017 oil on canvas 56 x 76cm
Available

It's unknown at this stage whether the famous ghost sign on Harris St will be retained, as it is painted on the original brickwork.

Plein air oil painting of the renovation of the Terminus Hotel corner of John and Harris Street Pyrmont painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
Starting a new canvas of the 'Terminus Hotel'
2017 oil on canvas 56 x 76cm
Available 
For more information about the Terminus and Pyrmont Point Hotels

Monday 16 May 2016

Pretty vacant

The Terminus Hotel has been sold at last.
I've heard that the new owners intend to relaunch it as a boutique hotel, over 30 years after it last traded. The Pyrmont Point Hotel will finally have its old competition back.
The 'For Sale' sign is still perched on its awning, so I thought that I would paint a few canvases before the renovations start in earnest.
Plein air oil painting of the Terminus Hotel, corner of John and Harris street painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
Starting a plein air oil painting of the Terminus Hotel,
corner of Harris and John streets, Pyrmont.
I'll be curious to see how this poster-child for urban decay will look after renovation.
The vines covering most of the northern facade of the Terminus, which add to its 'Miss Havisham' air, will probably have to be removed.
The vines are actually Virginia creeper, not ivy, as is commonly stated.
The old late Victorian mansion behind the Harris street tennis courts, which used to belong to the CSR Refinery Manager, has a similar covering of Virginia creeper. The 'Rum Store' of the former CSR Refinery, and current Jacksons Landing development, used to also be completely covered in this spectacular vine.
I particularly love painting the Terminus Hotel in late autumn, as the Virginia creeper is changing colour from lime green to burgundy over the burnt orange Federation brickwork.
Burgundy, claret and wine colours seem appropriate to an old hotel.
This might be the last autumn to paint the vines.
Plein air oil painting of the Terminus Hotel, corner of John and Harris street painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
Starting a plein air oil painting of the Terminus Hotel,
corner of Harris and John streets, Pyrmont.
Available
The legs of the Anzac Bridge straddle the end of John street. It is easier to see in autumn, as the plane trees are losing the leaves which obscured them.
Plein air oil painting of the Terminus Hotel, corner of John and Harris street painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
Starting a plein air oil painting of the Terminus Hotel,
corner of Harris and John streets, Pyrmont.
During the demolition decade of the 1990s many Pyrmont hotels stopped trading : the New York in Edward Street, the Pyrmont Arms at 42 Harris Street, the pub on the corner of Mount and John street. These are now, respectively, a medical centre; apartments above a bottle shop and yet more apartments.
Plein air oil painting of the Terminus Hotel, corner of John and Harris street painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
Starting a plein air oil painting of the Terminus Hotel,
corner of Harris and John streets, Pyrmont.
Available
Other attractive heritage buildings and quirky industries disappeared without trace. Nobody really remembers much about what happened to them. The Terminus seemed to always have had an intangible charisma that set it apart from the rest. Why, out of all of these neglected and forgotten buildings did the Terminus alone become a legend?
Plein air oil painting of the Terminus Hotel, corner of John and Harris street painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
Starting a plein air oil painting of the Terminus Hotel,
corner of Harris and John streets, Pyrmont.
How any of the pubs except the Pyrmont Bridge Hotel survived the Pyrmont diaspora decade of the mid 1980s - late 1990s is possibly the greatest mystery of all.
One reason it was so hard to pin down when the Terminus was finally shut is that by the end of the 80s, Pyrmont in the daytime was nearly deserted.
Plein air oil painting of the Terminus Hotel, corner of John and Harris street painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
Starting a plein air oil painting of the Terminus Hotel,
corner of Harris and John streets, Pyrmont.
The industries that provided the customers for the traditional 'early opener' pubs were winding down and moving out. The last sugar ship left in 1991 or 1992; the CSR were winding down their operations and had only a skeleton staff; Pier 19, 20 21 had almost ceased to be a working wharf ; the cruise ships stopped coming to Pier 13 by 1992.
Plein air oil painting of the Terminus Hotel, corner of John and Harris street painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
Starting a plein air nocturne oil painting of the Terminus Hotel,
corner of Harris and John streets, Pyrmont.
The Royal Pacific was seriously down at heel and unless a few familiar faces were drinking there I would feel a bit ill at ease walking around there late at night as there was sometimes a fairly dodgy looking crowd there and some of the locals would say quite flatly that it used to be full of gangsters. The Terminus seemed to be mostly full of boxers & bikies, so, take your pick!
Plein air oil painting of the Terminus Hotel, corner of John and Harris street painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
Starting a plein air oil painting of the Terminus Hotel,
corner of Harris and John streets, Pyrmont.
By the early 1990s both places seemed very quiet, day or night, so it was hard to pin down exactly when the Terminus had shut.
Plein air oil painting of the Terminus Hotel, corner of John and Harris street painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
Starting a plein air oil painting of the Terminus Hotel,
corner of Harris and John streets, Pyrmont.
You can still see the 'ghost sign' saying 'Royal Pacific' on the eastern facade of the Pyrmont Point Hotel.

City's mysteries up for sale (smh.com.au)

For more information about the Terminus and Pyrmont Point Hotels see My Pyrmont page in this blog