In some devastating news for everyone who’s afraid of seeing Sydney become a soulless hellscape, the iconic Dixon House in Chinatown looks set to be demolished soon.
The building was bought in 2019 and permission for its demolition was granted by the City of Sydney back in 2021.
According to the development application, the building is set to be demolished and instead turned into a 17 storey “mixed use development with two basement levels and a communal rooftop garden”. It’ll include student boarding rooms and retail shops.
Back in the day, Dixon House was known for both its shopping and its iconic food court, which has been shut for a couple of years now.
Very sad to hear that Chinatown’s Dixon House building—and the iconic food court—will be demolished for a new 17-storey development.
Pictures via Soul of Chinatown on Instagram, which has been collecting and sharing some incredible old photos + stories https://t.co/gEvvB5sbbY pic.twitter.com/XQK2QvUW2Q
— Naaman Zhou (@naamanzhou) September 12, 2022
A load of people have been sharing their memories of Dixon House before the building is demolished and Sydney loses another bit of history.
In fact, there’s an entire Instagram account called Soul of Chinatown which is documenting peoples’ memories of Dixon House specifically and Chinatown in general.
Soul of Chinatown’s aim is: “Fighting for the survival of Sydney’s Chinatown through storytelling, advocacy and community”. Pretty bloody important work if you ask me.
“You might have noticed Dixon House is now shuttered,” it wrote in a series of Insta Stories.
“It’s going to be demolished for a new 17 storey development. But what has happened to the existing businesses?”
In a series of Insta Q&As, people shared their memories of Dixon House. A bunch of people pointed to the legendary Ching Yip Coffee House while others made note of the fkn delicious and affordable food in the food court.
“That place reminds me of 80’s Hong Kong and a much happier and innocent time,” said one response.
Soul of Chinatown also shared a video interview with Kim, a former refugee who has run a watch shop in Dixon House since 1987.
“We have to remove everything from this shop,” he said.
“Now everyone has to move out, so we’re very sad.
“We have to go home.”
View this post on Instagram
People also shared their fond Dixon House mems on Twitter.
pour one out for the soon-to-be-redeveloped Dixon House, last little outpost of old Hong Kong in Chinatown
(even if Ching Yip closed in 2019, and the basement food court has been mostly empty for two years) pic.twitter.com/HP438bxyV3
— Pat Armstrong (@poisontofu) September 13, 2022
This is super depressing, Dixon House was my father & my favourite food court.
I took some mates to eat there & one stupidly ate a whole chili before taking a bite of his steak. I got him a milk tea, but he was still unable to taste his meal. Good times! https://t.co/M6QIlW6Emb— Arrancini (@_lead_salad) September 12, 2022
RIP. I ate here minimum twice a week for about seven years – mostly at Pondok Selera, but also had my first malatang at Dixon House https://t.co/6qVWO9u4Ew
— hence therefore (@hence_therefore) September 12, 2022
Only last year Chinatown’s iconic yum cha restaurant Marigold, a haven of deliciousness that saved me from more than one hangover, shut down.
While Dixon House hasn’t been in full operation for a while, it’s sad to see yet another Sydney icon lost. FFS Sydney.
