OWEN LINDSAY takes a look at the progress of Renew Adelaide – a project set to revive the stagnant areas of town

It started, like a lot of ambitious ideas, during a boozy conversation.

Ianto Ware was chatting with Marcus Westbury at an interstate arts fair when the topic of Renew Newcastle came up. In a nutshell, Renew Newcastle is an ongoing project in Newcastle (a town 
about two hours out of Sydney) that attempts to revitalise the 
CBD’s vacant lots by filling them with community-run initiatives.

The project is the brain/lovechild of Westbury, who was sick of seeing his city’s streets boarded up and tumbleweed infested. With government and community support, Westbury negotiated with landlords to establish special 30-day rolling leases, which allowed artists access to the empty spaces for bargain basement rent ($20 a week). Landlords are able to move tenants out with 30 days’ notice at any point, and basic insurance is provided by the Renew Newcastle team. The benefits were numerous: the resident artists took care of the upkeep of the vacants, people began to trickle back into the CBD, and property vandalism took a nosedive. Renew Newcastle has since expanded to include not just exhibition spaces, but studios, offices, theatres, shops and teahouses.

The more Ianto chatted with Westbury, the more it seemed like Adelaide would be the perfect fit for a ‘Renew’ project of its own – our CBD is crammed with long-stagnant vacant lots that are begging for revitalisation. Upon returning to Adelaide Ianto ran into Brigid Noone (arteest and one of the curators of Adelaide’s only artist-run initiative, FELTspace) who had been having similar thoughts: it was time for Renew Adelaide.

Admittedly, says Ianto, Newcastle is a different city to Adelaide. “The way it’s done over there is by relying on the fact that the Newcastle town centre is basically dead. Adelaide’s day economy is really good – it’s just that it doesn’t have that night economy”. But that doesn’t mean that the principle isn’t the same. With Renew Adelaide, there’s the potential to keep people in the CBD after they’ve finished work; to shift the after-6pm culture of Hindley St beyond Jagerbombs and strippers; to leverage on the idea of the city as a unique destination.

“What is really clear,” says Brigid, “is that there is loads of support and loads for interest. There is actually a genuine buzz – and that goes to show that the ideas, the creative energy, and the timing is right”. The best part about the project is that it is not at all limited to just artists – “What’s really important is that it is a genuine city revival, and we want a bigger community interest than just art,” Brigid says.

Often city councils and government fall prey to what has been called ‘Bilbao Syndrome’. Bilbao is a city in the Basque region of Spain that was similar to many post-Industrial towns – considered redundant and in steady decline – until the construction of the Bilbao Guggenheim, a major museum that zapped the city with an influx of tourist dollars and creative talent. When other cities attempted to follow suit and revitalise their economies through large scale development, they found the task much more difficult than it had been in Bilbao. The reason? Because Bilbao’s Guggenheim was just part of a larger, ongoing scheme aimed at supporting the city’s creative industry.

Ianto is interested in the way that smaller initiatives have a much higher potential for community engagement than big ‘cure all’ solutions.  Adelaide’s Entertainment Centre extension, he believes, is an example of Bilbao Syndrome in action – and Renew Adelaide offers a more sustainable alternative. “This is a different way of producing community initiatives,” he says. “Instead of putting a lot of money into one thing, you put money that then feeds out into lots and lots of small things.”

The potential for a Renew Adelaide project was initially brought to Adelaide City Council attention through Merge’s November 2009 article ‘No Vacancies’. Since then, the motion to explore the model was passed, and Ianto and Brigid have been engaging with the Council to get their heads around development applications and the red tape surrounding insurance, regulations and licensing. “(Councillor) Stephen Yarwood in particular is fantastic and incredibly supportive,” says Ianto.

Yarwood’s own vision for Adelaide transcends the often-heard conservative rhetoric of preserving the parklands and finding new and inventive ways of enforcing noise restrictions. “[Renew Adelaide] is a chance to get some quick, easy and cheaps wins for artists, the community and the space we all use,” he says. “Artist led regeneration and transformation has a history of getting 
the best results and I am keen to support in any way I can.”

For now, Ianto and Brigid are committed to getting pilot spaces going by mid 2010, and there’s no shortage of support. The Renew Adelaide Facebook group exploded (literally overnight) on Facebook, from zero to 1,000 members. Council reaction has been extremely positive, and with people like Stephen Yarwood flying the flag, the prospects of the project getting long-term support are incredibly good. And, finally, you couldn’t ask for more passionate and practical people than Ianto and Brigid helming everything. It all sounds electric – but what’s the next step? 
Easy: you get involved!

renewadelaide.wordpress.com

Photos by HARMONY NICHOLAS

Want to get involved?

Here are Merge’s ideas for spaces we’d like to see in Adelaide.

1. Toastie café. A temporary snack bar selling ultra-cheap eats – ham and cheese toasties for two dollars a pop, more gourmet sandwiches priced accordingly. Locate near student hubs (ie, City West) for maximum impact.

2. Immersive art exhibition. Why not combine audio, video, live performance, and installation to create a fully immersive art experience? A multi-roomed space used in such a unique way could become a destination for even those uncomfortable in a conventional gallery.

3. Short run market. We’ve seen the success of Gilles St Market and Bowerbird Bazaar, so why not a pop-up store version of something similar? A strong brand association with an existing market could be the ticket to lure in a broad segment of the community.

4. Multi use tea house. Totoro’s Tea House in Newcastle is one of the flagships of the Renew Newcastle project. A similar space in Adelaide could be a place for meeting with friends or clients during the day, and then become a venue for performance, stand-up or cabaret-style entertainment during the evening.

5. Language lab. A difficult prospect to pull off successfully, but a mixing place for Adelaide’s booming international student population and permanent residents – a place to share language and create friendships – has the potential to become hugely popular.

6. Dessert restaurant. Replicating the success of other late-night dessert cafés, an intimate space in the CBD for those wanting to stay out but not get drunk is – as yet – a largely untapped idea.

If you’re interested in something on this list or have an idea 
of your own, contact editor@merge.com.au to get the wheels in motion or leave a comment below