Haunted corner
I walk past a building on the corner of Craigend Street and Kirketon Road in Darlinghurst most days. It has an intricate facade, and a seemingly perfect location overlooking Kings Cross and the city.
Yet it’s played host to a string of bars and restaurants, including the lamented Global Burgers. You might see a shadow of old vomit too.
Haunted, cursed, bad feng shui?
In the buzz following Clover Moore’s liquor licensing changes, a DA went through to open ‘Lotus Wine Bar’ downstairs. Seems like such a cool location. It was going to be a seven day a week, 11am to 3am place. But less than two months later, in August, the $75,000 proposal was withdrawn.
Background 10/12/08
Prompted by Scot’s comment below, I checked out the background for Dale Jones-Evans’s intriguing (and, in 2004, award winning) building. It’s all here.
As the architect and developer I imagined a precious, gritty little building exploding out of this tiny, Tokyo-like, 7 x 15 metre, forgotten site. A commercial redevelopment appeared more suitable to the intense nodal semiology of the Kings Cross circus, William Street Boulevard, the corner condition; the urbanity of traffic-tunnel-signage and the general prevalence of human lunacy.
I think the Emily Kame Kngwarreye work’s gone though. Anyone know when/where?
Absolutely it’s haunted. In fact I reckon it is part of the ‘psychogeography’ of many places like that – they are always full of failing businesses. I lived in Rosebank St for about 4 years up until about 1998 and there’s nothing that ever last more than 12 months in that location. That was well before the new building went up with the Emily Kngarrewarre on top (is that still there?). Also over on the other corner of Craigend St – Darlo Rd. I bet whatever is there now is still failing. Nothing ever lasted more than 6 months in that location.
scot
9 Dec 08 at 8:16 pm
The Emily Kame Kngwarreye cap was before my time in the area. Hunting to find the pics and ambitions for “the art wall” as commitment to aboriginal culture – can’t help but see replacing the Emily with Hummer/etc ads as more than enough cause for a few years of bad luck.
ml
13 Jan 09 at 7:17 am
I’m pretty sure it was still there when I moved out of Sydney (Potts Point) in July 2005. (I used google street view to see that’s it’s gone now). There was an earlier attempt to remove it, and I’m pretty sure that either the L&E court or South Sydney Council (as it was at the time) made the owners put it back.
Although that location’s bad feng shui started well before the new building went up, as you say, taking down the Kngwarreye must be the ultimate in epic karma fail.
Scot
13 Jan 09 at 7:40 am
[...] other exciting (and optimistic) news, a second Japanese restaurant, Yachiyo, is set to open on the haunted corner of Kirketon Road and Craigend [...]
What we want is ramen | Darlinghurst Nights
19 May 09 at 9:33 am
i want to work ur restaurant when open
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Rie Goka
2 Jun 09 at 12:46 pm
Oh Global Burger, how I miss you! *weeps*
oldvic
3 Jun 09 at 12:00 am
[...] the location is yet to prove itself un-haunted as we are still waiting for the doors to open for [...]
An update: Sushi Yachiyo | Darlinghurst Nights
3 Jul 09 at 1:53 pm