The revised plan ditches two levels of basement parking and an underground nightclub,instead promising a 250-seat cabaret venue with a “unique and international immersive entertainment experience that is unique to Sydney and Australia”.
The experience in question is an antipodean outpost of French hospitality group The Paris Society,which is now looking to export its venues internationally in partnership with Accor Hotels.
A glossy brochure attached to the proposal states:“Mondaine is a plural venue which comes alive through encounters and feeds on all kinds of creative minds. Detached from any temporality and freed from the high society codes,Mondaine invites you to lead a free artist’s life.”
The pamphlet compares a “nocturnal adventure” at Mondaine to Queen’s epic songBohemian Rhapsody. “Thanks to a meticulous organisation,the atmosphere rises[to a] crescendo throughout the evening to finish in climax,” it says.
But the pitch has failed to convince local community groups,who maintain the NSW government should buy the site and turn it into a much-needed theatre of about 800 to 1000 seats. Former Liberal arts minister Don Harwin was a key proponent of this plan.
The 2011 Residents’ Association lodged an objection which,among other things,questioned the need for more bars and licensed venues in Potts Point,especially next to the Wayside Chapel.