KEEPER OF SECRETS OF WHITE BAY

KEEPER OF SECRETS AT WHITE BAY

(Daily Telegraph Tuesday 15^th March 2011) By: Henry Budd Harbour Reporter.

No one knows as many of the secrets of the derelict White Bay Power Station as Steve Tadic.

The 63-year-old security guard had patrolled the grounds of the Rozelle plant, which was decommissioned in 1983, for the past 15 years.

When he’s not seeing off the occasional would-be vandal, the Croation-born guard is harvesting the banana tree on the western side of the grounds and checking on the old control room that hasn’t seen use in almost 30 years.

Then there’s the story of the ‘lost’ entertainment hall.

Officers from Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority, which owns the 99-year-old power plant, discovered the hall when they opened a door that had remained shut for nearly 50 years. I knew about it, Mr Tadic said. But nobody thought to ask me.

The room was cleaned up earlier this year ahead of an open day, with workers removing six tonnes of pigeon droppings. It was then they discovered the room was as good a time-portal to the 1950s as you’ll see.

A record player sits on the kitchen counter, still connected to the room’s PA system, ping-pong tables are folded in the middle of the room and murals on the wall have survived unblemished.

The power plant still contains a lot of historic machinery, including an enormous turbine and boiler from the 1950s. Aside from needing a good dusting, the 1955 control room looks like it could be powered up again tomorrow.

Likewise, the original 1912 control room – made from marble – is still intact.

Interest in the open day took the authority by surprise with almost double the number of people turning up for a guided tour than expected.

Attention in the iconic Inner-West power station is high, with the site ear-marked for renewal as part of a SHFA Bays Precinct and the public invited to have their say on the proposed planning principles for the site.

University of Technology Sydney senior architecture lecturer Tarsha Finney said the restoration of Bankside Power Station in London, which is now home to the Tate Modern art museum, was an example of what could be done.