26 March 2024
By Hannah Wilcox
A public artwork is set to be created on the Greenway housing block in Kirribilli to celebrate its 70th anniversary.
The long-standing building was constructed over six years in response to the post WWII housing crisis as a part of a public housing project led by the State Government.
Home to 309 one and two-bedroom flats, it was awarded the title of the largest residential flat building project in the Southern Hemisphere at that time upon completion on March 28, 1954.
North Sydney Council have proposed a mural be commissioned on the Ennis Road retaining wall – on Broughton Street between Greenway Drive and the stairs to Ennis Road – to mark the occasion.
The work would be funded from the pre-existing Public Art budget allocation.
On Greenway’s 50th anniversary, then-resident and historian Geoffrey Barrett wrote: “I’m sure that the people responsible for the construction of Greenway… would be delighted, if not amazed, to know that their efforts are still providing decent housing half a century on, and within their building is a proud, neighbourly community – a community that has survived.”
Mayor Zoe Baker said at Monday’s council meeting: “On the eve of the 70th Anniversary, as we experience another intense housing crisis, those words resonate.”
“It is the strong sense of community and the incredible residents of Greenway that must be celebrated as a vital part of the broader North Sydney local government area community.”
“Given the importance of Greenway to our community and Council’s commitment to affordable and social housing, it is appropriate that Council provide assistance and a gift to mark the occasion,” she added.
Festivities for the building’s platinum jubilee on March 28 will be organised by Greenway Tenants’ Association.
As a part of the celebrations, Council will also be supporting an exhibition by artist Christoper Ireland at the Kirribilli Neighbourhood Centre, titled All Things Considered, as well as a History Walk by Dr Ian Hoskins as a part of the National Trust’s Australian Heritage Festival.