Art Gallery In Warehouse

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32127, 24 October 1969, Page 3

Art Gallery In Warehouse

In Tasmania, a row of old freestone warehouses in.Salamanca Place, on the Hobart waterfront, may become another Australian tourist attraction—especially for those interested in art and fine foods. Earlier this year there was public disquiet when it was learned that three of the buildings were to be sold. A hundred years and more ago they were the business houses of the men who replenished the ships and bought the cargoes from the whalers who flocked to the bustling port of Hobart Town. They have been hailed as unique by architects and historians. Preserved The disquiet has been swept away since preserve tion orders were put on the buildings, requiring them to be preserved and maintained. Now the Salamanca Place Art Gallery has been opened by the Australian poet, James McAuley, for the owners, Mr

Paul Sahnieder and Mrs Helen Hodgman, of Hobart. Professor McAuley described the opening as the long awaited beginning of development of Salamanca Place. Plans have now been announced for two licensed restaurants to be opened in Salamanca Place, the promoters hope, by Christmas, 1969. A Sydney restaurateur, Mr Ray Catherell, recently announced plans to open a colonial-style “ball and chain” taYem. ■ He will preserve the facade and interior of the historic building while spending $25 000 on extensions and decor. “Serving Wenches” Mr Catherell plans to have waitresses dressed as “serving wenches” and an orches-

tra known as the “Convicts.” Customers will select their own -meat and have it cooked on an open spit.

“Hobart has the most exciting history in the South Pacific,” he says, “and Salamanca Place is an ideal place for a restaurant highlighting this history.” The second proposed restaurant will be opened by a Hobart restaurant owner, Mr Richard Dunsford, and will be known as “Moby Dick's.”

His plans, already approved by the State Licensing Court, are for a similar “atmosphere” restaurant with decor centred on the convict period. He will specialise in local food, including fresh fish and other seafoods. Tourist Hub

Enthusiastic tourist promoters are now talking of the long neglected but much ad-

mired group of buildings as the tourist hub of Hobart.

The Hobart City Council applied preservation orders to ■the old buildings after a wave of public indignation at news that developers would be free to demolish them.

For years there had been suggestions and speculation that art galleries and restaurants would thrive in the historic atmosphere of the old whaling warehouses, _but nobody came forward with a concrete plan. The action of Mr Schnieder and Mrs Hodgman in opening their gallery seems to have given Salamanca Place the impetus it needed. The buildings are only a few minutes walk from the city centre.—Australian News and Information Bureau.

The photograph shows Helen Hodgman outside the Salamanca Gallery.