By Julie Power
Squatters, thieves and vandals have wrecked and defaced the heritage-listed Greek cafe the Paragon in Katoomba, with graffiti saying “RIP” across its famous Moruya-marble soda fountain.
Photos of damage to the interior of the 110-year-old art deco cafe were mailed anonymously to Friends of the Paragon, a group that has been lobbying to save what was once one of the biggest tourist attractions in the Blue Mountains.
“The interior has been absolutely trashed,” said Friends president Rob Strange. “Mirrors, marble, the bars and furniture with their very detailed plasterwork have been just daubed with graffiti.”
Responding to news of the damage, NSW Heritage Minister Penny Sharpe said: “There has been a failure to protect this item. I have asked Heritage NSW to look at any action they can take to rectify this problem.”
Strange said locks on the building had been repeatedly cut with bolt cutters, and there had been reports of squatters and parties on the premises. Drug paraphernalia and empty beer bottles had also been left near where generations of families once enjoyed afternoon tea, hamburgers and sodas.
There was water damage a metre high in the famous ballroom, holes in walls and floors, and furniture had been broken and stolen.
The Paragon in Katoomba.Credit: Dion Georgopolous
Blue Mountains MP Trish Doyle said the state of disrepair of “our beautiful Paragon” was dire. The break-ins had increased the building’s exposure to the weather.
Representatives of the Blue Mountains City Council visited the Paragon last week. A spokesperson said officers documented “further evidence of deterioration”, which was sent to Heritage NSW.
The council also wrote to Sharpe in March, stressing that she use her statutory powers under the act to secure and weatherproof the three-storey premises on Katoomba Street that includes a ballroom, a bakery and other rooms.
Heritage NSW, which is part of the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, has “escalated its response to this matter”.
A spokesperson for the department said: “If conditions are not met and significant damage to the interiors is confirmed, Heritage NSW will explore opportunities to take formal action under the Heritage Act (Section 120 Order).”
Section 120 provides for the government to order an owner to do necessary work to maintain the building. No such order has been made to date.
The Simos family owned the Paragon for nearly a century. Solicitor John Landerer bought it 20 years ago for about $2 million. He then leased it as a cafe until it closed in 2018.
The council approved Landerer’s development application for remediation works more than five years ago, and a construction certificate was issued.
When hoardings were erected on the Paragon saying “Under Restoration” last year, the community celebrated. But no work had started, the council said.
Landerer said he hadn’t yet found a builder with sufficient heritage experience for what he estimates will be a $1 million restoration project.
But he said a range of measures, including new steel security doors, had been implemented to stop the vandals.
He planned to visit the property with representatives from Heritage NSW in the next week or so.
“[The damage] is distressing to me but I’m not responsible for vandals getting into the place,” Landerer said. “And it’s going to cost me more money to rectify what they’ve done.”
Landerer said he had bought the cafe for its sentimental value. Like many people, he, too, had visited the cafe as a boy with his parents for tea or lunch. “It is my memory as well,” he said. “That’s exactly why I bought it.” He hopes to lease the business to another cafe owner.
Doyle said the Paragon was a much-loved tourist destination. “Like thousands of others, I want to see it returned to its former glory,” she said.
The Paragon was listed by the National Trust in NSW. In 2015 it secured NSW heritage listing.
The Paragon was true to its name, said historian Leonard Janiszewski, who with photographer Effy Alexakis has documented Greek cafes across Australia.
“It is last of the very finest of Greek-run cafes,” he said.
A report by the National Trust NSW said the Paragon had been so “sumptuously finished, and probably none exists today that can compare with the Paragon”.
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