Clarendon added to local heritage list
The Blue Mountains Gazette reports: Acknowledgement to Jennie Curtin and the Blue Mountains Gazette
It has stood for more than 100 years and now the Clarendon in Katoomba will be added to the local heritage register. The unauthorised works, which were halted earlier in 2024, are now the subject of a development application being considered by council.
The hotel/guesthouse on Lurline Street opened in 1923 and for years was a venue for musical performances, anything from hot jazz to Sydney bands to dinner shows to cabaret.
It featured as the comeback venue for the cabaret king, Reg Livermore, who came out of retirement in 1989 to put on a show there. It played five nights a week for five months and Livermore subsequently performed six different shows over the next decade.
It was also a venue for the Blue Mountains Music Festival and was owned for 30 years by Mr Festival himself, Bob Charter, and his wife, Annette.
Council imposed an interim heritage order in August 2024 following community and council concerns about demolition works.
It also issued a stop work order on the site after an inspection identified some works had been undertaken without the necessary development consents.
Now, an independent assessment has found that it has historic, aesthetic and social significance.
It also found it fulfilled the “rarity” criteria, being one of the few surviving examples of interwar guesthouses in Katoomba that has continued to operate as such and “one of the only known examples of an interwar guesthouse in the Upper Blue Mountains with continuity of the entertainment function through the years”.
A council spokeswoman said the DA for alterations and additions is currently being assessed. Plans include new entry, reception and dining areas and an increase in the number of motel rooms from 39 to 44, removing communal bathrooms and installing en suites in each room.
The National Trust welcomed council’s decision. Local branch president Rod Stowe said: “This is entirely appropriate given the significant role this much loved hotel and entertainment venue has had in the cultural life of Katoomba over many decades.”