And that doesn’t include the entire block between Crown and Palmer streets on the eastbound side that is now boarded up for a major redevelopment that will not be finished until late 2023.
Colin Paull,the recently retired owner of iconic Oxford Street restaurant Belloccio,who lives on the strip,said the street was in bad shape. “It’s used as a thoroughfare only. Every business is suffering. The locals don’t support the strip,” he said. “Ten years ago we had a great mix,now it’s very sad.”
That is not to say Oxford Street is dead;in some ways the nightspot is thriving,with long queues at clubs such as Universal,Cliff Dive and Palms on busy Saturdays. Arq owner Shadd Danesi told theHerald on Friday he would reopen the legendary nightclub,and was “doing his best” to have it ready for the start of WorldPride in mid-February.
But daytime and weeknight trade is a different proposition. WorldPride organisers and the City of Sydney are conscious of the problem,but time is running out to prepare the street before tens of thousands of interstate and international visitors arrive for an event billed as Sydney’s biggest since the Olympics.
In response to a question at last week’s council meeting,Lord Mayor Clover Moore said staff were working with festival organisers “to ensure we don’t have any blank windows on Oxford Street for WorldPride. That work is happening.”
Moore told theHerald that WorldPride organisers were in discussions with building owners about the potential use of “pop-up properties” during the festival. Organisers also submitted a proposal to the council this week for further efforts to “activate” shuttered shops and beautify the street – which is now awaiting a response from council officers.