The plans for Eddy Avenue – at the northern end of the station – include the opening of 15 pop-up outlets in vacant shops along the strip and Eddy Plaza,which forms the main entrance to Central from nearby Belmore Park. A pop-up cinema for about 80 people will also be opened within the next two weeks in a bid to rejuvenate the area.
Infrastructure and Cities Minister Rob Stokes said the installation of glass panels in the roof over the grand concourse abutting the main building would reinstate long-forgotten views of the heritage clock tower and natural light.
“Over time there’s been so many ad hoc and incremental changes.[The project is] about restoring the glass[and] bringing the light back in which will just highlight all the extraordinary heritage features of the station,” he said. “We want to make it a real destination.”
He cited a royal commission in 1907 that found the station was cut off from the rest of the city.
“We want to correct that. We have a vision to turn Central into Sydney’s centrepiece and the first stage of that is pressing ahead with the renewal of one of Sydney’s historic landmark buildings,” he said.
The government is seeking planning approval for the restoration of the terminal building by the middle of next year,and expects the work to be completed in 2026,in time for its 120th anniversary. As part of the plans,two extra escalators will be put in to improve access to Eddy Avenue and the plaza,and a historic loading dock turned into a marketplace.