Series 02: Alan Gibson Stewart papers, 1987-1989 - Page 715
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the luxurious interior of a high-rise tower. The sheltered little Place would be opened up to become part of the entrance of a huge international hotel. Whatever new facilities might be offered, they would be very different in price and style to those which had been traditionally enjoyed in the old pub.
There was also the question of the heritage value of Macquarie Place. The National Trust had classified several of the old buildings, including the Customs House hotel, as worthy of preservation. The reasons for listing the pub described it as:
"A small late Victorian building indicative in scale and character of what was once the hub of Sydney's commercial heart (the Bank of NSW was founded nearby in 1817). The interior, with its surviving bars and joinery, retains an atmosphere of a Victorian city hotel."
The pub was a long way from my electorate (it was actually in that of Pat Hills). Nevertheless, Kevin Grimm was a resident of Manly and therfore one of my constituents. The site had no residents to protest about the proposed development. The people who cared about the pub were city workers who lived elsewhere. Many of them had come to regard the Customs House hotel as their "local", where they could enjoy a civilized drink before travelling homeward.