A STROLL DOWN HINDLEY STREET
My first experience with Hindley Street was as a teenager from the country coming to work in the city for my first job at Colonial Mutual Life. The CML building, now the Mayfair Hotel, with its heritage listed façade, is still there on the corner of Hindley and King William Streets. This was about 50 years ago, and I remember how Hindley Street was then known for its nightclubs, bars and strip joints, and a place for drugs, prostitutes and late-night violence.
My last job was at the UniSA City West Campus, and walks down Hindley Street were common. The street didn’t feel the same as it was back in my earlier days, probably a mix of me being much older and the street somehow changing over time. The strip from Morphett Street to West Terrace is very much the university precinct these days. The King William to Morphett Street space is really what’s left of the street I first experienced.
I read some press articles recently about the high level of ground-floor vacancy rates along Hindley – the highest in the city, and how the Adelaide City Council has a plan, currently being finalised, to spend $15 million on a full street-scape revamp to try and bring the place to life.
I decided to take another walk down the street – King William to Morphett – to reexperience it for myself. It was done on two Friday afternoons, between 12 noon and 5pm.
Walking past the old CML building heading west, the first thing I saw was vacant shopfront space – the ‘Off Ya Tree’ store gone. Across the road, another empty shop. Even reading about the vacancy issue did not prepare me for what I saw – a constant string of empty buildings, big and small.
The street was missing the crowds. Crossing over the other side of King William Street to the Mall and it was packed. On Hindly though, there were few people, empty eating houses that should be busy serving the lunchtime rush – no idea how they survive, and no real sense that there was anything to entice someone to wander down and enjoy some time there.
I was taken aback by the number of massage parlours – more than I could count, the seeming over supply of small convenience stores, and the grime. The place looked and felt dirty and unkept. Shop fronts were mostly run down, there was the odd broken window to remind me that there’s still a violence issue going on, and even what I’d hope were well kept historic buildings were mostly being left to decay.
Amongst all of this was the odd standout. The Imprints bookstore that’s still there after 40 years, well-kept inside and out, and a real local institution. Next door is the Men’s Room barber shop that’s been there for 25 years and is as well-kept as the book shop. It gave some sense that yes, the street can find its way.
I left feeling a both sad and disappointed at how, just a few short steps from the glitz and vibrance of Rundle Mall, there is such a degraded space. Maybe the planned overhaul will get a revival happening – hope so.
Don Clifton
June 2024
