Bondi Pavilion Restoration Gets Green Light

By Siriol Dafydd on January 24, 2020 in News

A much-needed restoration for the Pavilion, by Reef Urbish.

After years of red tape, a whole lot of back and forth and several rounds of community consultation, the Bondi Pavilion Restoration & Conservation Project is finally moving forward. At the tail end of 2019 the Sydney Eastern City Planning Panel approved Waverley Council’s development application, meaning they can officially begin work on the much anticipated project.
The restoration work is due to begin in May 2020 and is expected to last around eighteen months. Once work is complete, local residents, as well as the million plus visitors who use the Pavilion each year, can enjoy a variety of improved facilities and amenities including a family change room, a new tourist centre and box office at the northern entrance of the foyer and renovated community spaces. Other improvements will include a larger gallery and a renovation of the theatre facility, a ‘Bondi Story Room’ that will be used as a flexible exhibition and educational space and a community radio studio. There will also be new indigenous public artwork on display as well as a larger space for the pottery studio, which will now have a second kiln. Renovated commercial spaces for hospitality and other services will also be made available.
On the whole, it seems that the new and improved Bondi Pavilion will be a vibrant community hub packed with culture, creativity, family friendly amenities and, perhaps most importantly, nicer toilets. This project has been several years in the making and those in charge have made a huge effort to take a whole lot of community input into account.
Waverley Mayor Paula Masselos said the approval marks an important chapter in the history of the heritage building that was built in 1928.
“The community sees the ‘Pav’ as the ‘Town Hall’ of Bondi and we are proud to be retaining the Pavilion as a community and cultural hub,” Mayor Masselos told The Beast.
For many locals, keeping a sense of history and authenticity in the Pavilion was key to the project’s success, and thankfully those in charge were in agreement. Thanks to the building’s heritage status the restoration plan has been carefully guided by a Conservation Management Plan (CMP) as per state government requirements, ensuring that this beloved Bondi landmark is both preserved and improved tastefully and responsibly.
“We are very excited to have the green light to restore the Pavilion to its former glory with a detailed design that has been guided by the Bondi Pavilion Conservation Management Plan and extensive community consultation,” said Mayor Masselos.
“A lot of work went into developing the CMP and it will ensure that the historic integrity of the Pavilion is retained.”
Of course, before we get to enjoy the new Pavilion in all its restored glory we must first endure eighteen months of construction. But fear not, Waverley Council is already on the case. As the commencement of restoration works are drawing nearer, Council is collaborating with a range of community and cultural groups, as well as local businesses, to carry out various initiatives to activate and utilise the location during the construction period.