Metro to devour restaurant

It was the phone call Talentino Vieira and his wife Rosario were dreading. On Monday a Sydney Metro representative rang to confirm their business would be resumed to make way for the Sydney Metro’s Pyrmont station.
Last Wednesday Sydney Metro announced that, due to overwhelming community feedback, there would no longer be a construction site in Pyrmont’s Union Square.
However an updated construction plan showed that four buildings along Union Street would be taken, including the Vieira’s restaurant, Bartino.
“I passed the phone to Tino and I could see in his face, he didn’t have to say anything,” Rosario Vieira said of her speechless husband. “Since then we don’t feel like eating. Coming here is like coming to a cemetery.”
It is understood a plaza will be placed over the new area, as well as station amenities, with station entry points at the corner of Miller and Mount Streets, and Union and Pyrmont Streets, where Bartino sits.
The restaurant was originally signalled for the installation of shafts for workers constructing the new underground station.
A statement from the NSW Transport Minister David Campbell’s office also said the new location would provide engineers with greater flexibility in accessing the site.
Pyrmont Progress spokesperson Charles Perry said Sydney Metro misread the community’s sentiments: “We’ve suggested that Union Square be not touched, but included in the suggestion was the idea that businesses not be touched as well.
“I don’t think they’re position really reflects the community point of view,” he said.
Mr Perry added that the Government’s decision was a huge blow to Pyrmont’s ailing small business precinct.
Other businesses to be resumed on Union Street include Harrogate Teas and ‘one-stop shop’ Moss. C.R. Kennedy & Co. on Miller Street will also be acquired.
The chosen properties along the Union Street are also heritage-listed, which City Councillor Shayne Mallard raised the alarm about.
When community members quizzed the authority on the feasibility of the Star City construction site as an alternative, Sydney Metro representatives said it was too advanced in construction to be considered.
President of Pyrmont Progress Robert Gavagna identified a car park and a row of houses along Pyrmont Street where construction could alternatively proceed.
Work is due to begin on the new site in late 2010. Greg Stewart, owner of Harrogate Teas, said he was told to vacate by the beginning of April, next year.
“Unfortunately, with major projects of this nature, some properties need to be acquired,” said a Sydney Metro spokesperson.
The spokesperson said that the amount of compensation would be determined on the market value of each property, and that Sydney Metro would compensate for relocation costs.
Sydney Metro will be holding another information session in late June for the Pyrmont community.