Rise, Redfern, and roll away the roller doors

THEY have become as much a part of Redfern as the famous South Sydney rugby league club - a sea of roller doors that transform the suburb's main streets into cold, uninviting corridors at the end of each day.

And until recently, a growing number were not rolling back up with the return of the sun.

According to a City of Sydney council report, Redfern is battling to reinvent itself in the face of nearly 40 years of economic decline.

The study - commissioned by the council - shows that, after reaching a peak in the 1970s, business activity in the 150-year-old suburb has fallen back to the dark days of the 1980s.

In 2007, 23 per cent of Redfern's business premises were vacant, leaving Redfern and Regent streets with 65 steel-fronted shop fronts.

The report paints a picture of a struggling retail precinct characterised by locked roller doors, safety concerns and a poorly equipped train station.

Things have improved in the past 18 months - thanks to street works and major upgrades of the historic Redfern Oval and Redfern Park undertaken by the council, and a growing number of residential developments catering to young professionals.

But the suburb remains in a precarious state of transition into stagnation, decline or re-emergence. The report said Redfern needed to be transformed into a ''centre of gravity'' characterised by trendy food and drinking strips with specialist retail outlets that attracted people from across the city. ''There is a huge amount of investment coming into the area with the Pemulwuy housing project, the Indigenous Land Council site and work being done by the Redfern Waterloo Authority,'' the president of the Redfern Chamber of Commerce, Mary Lynne Pidcock, said.

Last night the City of Sydney set plans in motion to turn the sea of roller doors into a canvas for a contemporary art project.

There is a proposal to commission artists to paint murals depicting the shop or business behind each roller door.

Source: www.smh.com.au/national/rise-redfern-and-roll-away-the-roller-doors-20090810-efmr.html