An architectural relic in Victoria Park will be revived as a café next year after lying vacant for years.
The City of Sydney Council will endorse a contractor to restore and refurbish the 125-year-old Gardener’s Lodge, a Victorian Gothic buildingthat housed University of Sydney staff in the 1880s.
Acting director of city council projects Duncan Mitchell said that he envisaged a dramatic increase in the number of visitors to Victoria Park once the restoration work was complete.
“It is going to add value to the area because it’s going to be a fantastic new community facility that will attract local residents and park users,” he said. “In particular, young families with children who will be attracted to the café and the adjoining children playground.”
The project involves the restoration of the cottage’s sandstone exterior, the reinstatement of its original doors and windows, the installation of a commercial kitchen and a storeroom for the café. Toilet facilities will also be upgraded for café patrons and park users.
The new café will have indoor and outdoor seating for 48 people.
Mr Mitchell said the new café and other facilities will blend in with the heritage of the stone lodge. “The new design and the refurbishment of the café will be in complete sympathy to the existing building, including the heritage fabric of the building, the sandstone and all of its elements.”
Alex Everett, a graduate of the University of Sydney, said the Gardener’s Lodge project is even better than the restoration projects conducted around campus.
“They [Restoration works] often don’t do very much to get people to engage with the heritage buildings and in the absence of some sort of genuine drawcards like a café or a restaurant, people aren’t really interested in yet another historical building, particularly when they’re surrounded by so many other spectacular examples on the University campus,” he said.
The six-month restoration project, which will increase the life of the cottage for another century, will commence in late January.
By Josephine Kwan
