A bit of background to the Lost Collective gallery of the Terminus Hotel in Pyrmont.
This was, without question, the most-shared post Lost Collective has ever made. I was already in Japan when the gallery went live and it kept going viral for the two weeks I was overseas. The reach of social media at scale, when it goes, is a strange thing to experience from the other side of the world.
It wasn't entirely a surprise that this one travelled the way it did. The Terminus is one of those buildings that everyone in Sydney recognises, even people who have only ever walked past it. Generations have crossed Harris and John streets and looked up at the ivy.
The mystery was always part of the appeal. So was the beauty.
The site has since been sold to a private buyer and is partway through a substantial restoration toward reopening as a hospitality venue. For my money that's the best possible outcome for a building like this. Buildings outlive their original use and either get a second one or get demolished.
One thing the gallery underlines is the practical reality of an unsecured abandoned building. Whether the address is kept quiet or not, an unsealed building will be opened: theft, vandalism, arson, and weather will get at it eventually. Anyone who has spent time in this space can confirm that.
"A schooner hasn't been served at The Terminus Hotel for more than three decades, but it looks like happy hour will soon be on the cards for the landmark inner Sydney pub. The poor old boozer, which has been left in ruins since the 1980s, is covered in ivy outside while inside the watering hole is a rare time capsule that shows a slice of Sydney life from a bygone era. Now, after a month-long marketing campaign, the long-forgotten drinking spot on the corner of Harris and John streets in Pyrmont has sold for 'around' $5 million."
Read the full piece at realestate.com.au.
