Rowe Street, Sydney
Rowe Street is a narrow laneway in Sydney, Australia, located in the Sydney central business district, off Pitt Street. Originally, Rowe Street ran between Castlereagh Street and Pitt Street, parallel to Martin Place. It takes it name from the prominent New South Wales architect Thomas Rowe.[1]
History
Rowe Street was a centre for Sydney's bohemian life from the late 19th century until the 1970s, described in 1931 as "the primrose path of dalliance".[2] The precinct included the original Theatre Royal, the Playbox Theatre, art studios and galleries, restaurants, cafés and coffee shops, many well-known fashion, clothing, interior design and jewellery shops, and Rowe Street Records, one of the first specialist import record stores in Australia.[3]
Most of the Rowe Street precinct, including the palatial Hotel Australia, was demolished in the early 1970s to make way for the MLC Centre, a monolithic modernist edifice designed by controversial Sydney architect Harry Seidler. A small section remains today as link from Pitt street to Lees Circuit and the entrance to the shopping Centre and food court, below the MLC Centre. The beautiful old building on the corner of Pitt and Rowe Streets was the Millions Club and later became the Sydney Club still remains to-day, the only original building in the laneway.
See also
References
- ^ Freeland, J. M. (1976). "Rowe, Thomas (1829–1899)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 26 December 2009.
- ^ "Rowe-Street". Sydney Mail. Vol. XXXIX, , no. 1012. New South Wales, Australia. 19 August 1931. p. 6. Retrieved 29 July 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) - ^ http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/inspired/rowest/ Remembering Rowe Street
External links
- "Rowe Street". Dictionary of Sydney. 2008. Retrieved 29 September 2015. [CC-By-SA]