1981–2005: Creativity

Laying cables off Pier One, 1985 (CoS).
Major renovations of Pier 8-9, by Simon Stokes, late 1990s.
'The fairy penguins beat it from Walsh Bay' by Peter Kingston 2002-2015 (detail, Aust. Galleries).
Aboriginal dancers with the Bangarra Dance Company at Pier 4-5, by Tim Webster, 1998 (NLA).
Rebuilding the Hickson Road Shore Sheds for apartments, 2002 (CoS).
Construction work along Pottinger Street, where 17 new townhouses were built by 2004 (CoS).
Pre-LED lighting of boats for New Year's Eve 2005 (CoS).

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.