1981–2005: Creativity

Walsh Bay began to be transformed as a cultural precinct in the early 1980s, when Pier One was redeveloped as a harbourside ‘festival marketplace’ and Wharf 4-5 was renovated to house Sydney’s leading theatre and dance companies. But further revamps of the precinct’s crumbling wharves and warehouses were delayed for more than a decade by strenuous objections from groups with heritage preservation, wildlife conservation and local community concerns.