Conserving our heritage

Conserving our heritageOne of the city’s grand old ladies, The Lucky Country Hotel, has undergone a major renovation and reopened to the public. Dating back to the 1800’s, “The Lucky” was a Newcastle institution until its demise following the 1989 earthquake and lay mothballed, another piece of our heritage slowly crumbling away.The original facade of the hotel has been painstakingly restored to its former grandeur. But walk through the doors and a trendy new fit out is revealed. “The Lucky” is the latest example of how private investment and adaptive reuse of heritage buildings is necessary to conserve Newcastle’s unique history.A few blocks away in Hunter Street, another lovingly restored heritage facade has been revealed. While the interior fit-out is still under way, the wraps have come off The Wren Apartments and that corner of the city is already looking much more attractive.Walk another two blocks to Watt Street and works have started to strip out the heritage building now occupied by Sprocket’s Roasters in readiness for construction of the new Peniche apartments. And right next door, a crane has been on site for a few weeks working on the residential redevelopment of another Newcastle icon, The Tattersall’s Club building.