A final piece of the re-creation of Lawson is ready to fall into place, with plans to restore the Honour Avenue buildings next to the pub.
The owners of 1-7 Honour Avenue want to reinstate the historic facade, bringing back the verandahs which adorned the buildings throughout much of the 20th century.
The building is known as the Staples Store after William Staples, whose “general provider” shop operated on the premises from 1912. It is the oldest commercial building in Lawson.
In a DA jointly proposed by Sam Haddad, owner of the supermarket, and Raymond Sleiman, owner of 1 Honour Avenue (which houses the bathroom shop), the facades will be restored to their 1915 appearance.
The DA also proposes building additional units above some of the shops, reconfiguring existing units and extending 1 Honour Ave so there is an effective shop frontage on Benang St.
Importantly, it will create a walkway under number 5, linking the old Lawson town with the new for the first time. At present pedestrians have to traverse around Staples Crescent.
A statement of environmental effects by Nuala Cavanagh of Griffin Planning, submitted with the DA, noted that the Honour Avenue shops have lost business since the new town was built along Staples Street.
“The redesign of the Lawson town centre as a result of the road widening of the GWH has resulted in some adverse impacts on the economic viability of shops fronting Honour Avenue – this is demonstrated by the loss of tenants to shops on Honour Avenue including the newsagent from number 3 and the declining return of the supermarket at 5-7 Honour Avenue.
“The loss of through traffic along Honour Avenue has heavily impacted on the convenience to customers of the Honour Avenue shops. The current owner therefore sees significant benefits in providing a frontage and pedestrian access through to Benang Street which will increase the presence of the shops in the ‘new’ Lawson town centre.”
A heritage report, also prepared for the DA, said the reconstruction of the facade to its early 20th century look would respect the building’s heritage.
“The proposed works would not include the construction of additional levels and would retain the historic uses of the subject site, comprising commercial and residential spaces.”
The Heritage21 report also confirmed that plans for the reconstructed facade have been based on historical research and photographs and don’t include any detailing that would not have originally been there.
The estimated cost of the work is $1.3 million. The DA is on public exhibition until January 30.
