For me,it was seeing the Divinyls one hot Sydney summer night in December 1984. It was college Christmas holidays and I can still see and feel the roar and sweat of the crowd when Chrissy Amphlett transfixed us all with her dynamite performance,singing in her trademark school uniform and fishnet stockings.
Chrissy Amphlett from Divinyls at Selinas,Coogee Bay,December 21,1984.Ben Rushton
For others,it was seeing Nirvana in the 1990s,Dragon in the 1980s,Cold Chisel,INXS,Rose Tattoo,The Hitmen,Chain,Matt Finish,The Radiators and even Elton John.
Such is the nostalgia associated with the place,Peter Garrett even asked the current owners to l there.
This week the plan to demolish the old venue for a $112 million redevelopment of the;with the court adjourning to allow the developer more time to amend their plans for apartment buildings that are twice the maximum height limit.
Nirvana on the cover of Rolling Stone in May 1992 and,right,a poster promoting Nirvana (supported by You Am I) at Selina’s at the Coogee Bay Hotel in Sydney in February 1992.Supplied
The owners,C!NC Hotel’s managing director Christopher Cheung has until September 26 to present,with the council having just two weeks to review them ahead of the next court conciliation on October 10. This is a closed court where the community has no access to any of the amendments.
While I’ve lived in Coogee the past 13 years,I rarely go to the 150-year-old CBH. I did however this week,just on sunset,as many backpackers,tradies and business folk gathered for a bevvy in the beachside beer garden on an unseasonably warm winter’s day. Under the shade of beach umbrellas,palm and Norfolk Island pine trees,I chatted to those gathered about what they thought about the redevelopment of the hotel,which has been a popular beach retreat since the 1920s,when Coogee was known as “Australia’s most beautiful seaside resort”.
While the hotel is a community cornerstone,I didn’t find one local there.
As I sat there,I couldn’t help but agree with a lot of the local business owners,that the site is ripe for a redevelopment.
The Coogee Bay Hotel in 1982.Fairfax
But this proposal is not the correct one. I agree with Randwick mayor Dylan Parker,who says the size and scale of this redevelopment is “totally incompatible with the village character of Coogee”. And Greens councillor Michael Olive who says “we don’t need another supermarket”. And the community group Keep Coogee A Village,which called the proposal “a gross overdevelopment and wildly outside carefully considered planning controls”.
The proposed apartment block is almost double the 12-metre limit for the area,and we don’t need more than 220 underground car parking spaces,I believe.
Nor do I agree with the owners C!NC Hotels which says on its their plans would “put Coogee up there – in terms of attraction and amenity – with Bondi and Bronte et al”.
Coogee is not pretentiously wanky and overdeveloped like Bondi,nor a string of souless shopfront cafes,like Bronte. It is a community still a little shabby around the edges in parts,but that’s the way we like it. Maybe the developer needs to ask us locals what we want?
I’m not opposed to a public laneway providing a new café and dining precinct,like say Spice Alley in Chippendale,and a space for pop-up food trucks or other vendors.
The Coogee Pavilion is just one of the pubs in Justin Hemmes' stable.Daniel Muno
Or a sensitive redevelopment like has done at the north end of the beach with the Coogee Pavilion. The community may even rally around this,much in the way Hemmes did when he moved to live in the beachside suburb while redeveloping the Pav,with great respect for neighbouring residents and businesses.
His Merivale group have created destination dining venues such as high-end Mimi’s,tapas bar Una Mas,the rooftop restaurant and ground floor Will’s that are popular with both locals and tourists alike.
I’d welcome a hotel redevelopment like Merivale has done at the Newport Arms – it’s classy and community centred. Or even the conversion of the Coogee Bowlo,which is now the Coogee Beach Club,where the bowling greens are now a beer garden,and a popular watering hole for locals. Even the Legion Club’s new beachfront rooftop bar attracts more locals than the Coogee Bay Hotel does now.
The Coogee Bay Hotel was built in the 1850s,but began life as a school run by George Edson “for young gentlemen.” In 1873,it was converted to a hotel,which it has remained for almost 150 years.
We all agree it could use a spruce up. The new-look Murrah restaurant on the ground floor,attracts only intimate duos or trios in terms of musicians. We have a creative community in Coogee that would welcome a new/reworked music venue and dining options,though more apartments seems like a greedy land grab. Whatever happens,please,not another Bondi or Bronte.
The Opinion newsletter is a weekly wrap of views that will challenge,champion and inform your own..