Here’s something you don’t see everyday.
Ever since it opened its doors in 1973, the Sydney Opera House’s welcoming and expansive forecourt set on Sydney harbour has been an icon. Now that icon is getting a revamp as part of the ongoing $200 million refresh happening all over the famous venue.
The renovations have been going for a few years now, as part of the “Decade of Renewal” but the removal of the iconic steps – used for everything from films to concerts or just a lazy lunch in the sun – is by far the most public job to date.
The iconic sandstone sleepers, known as the Monumental Steps, leading up to the doors of the world’s most famous concert hall have now all been lifted out and removed.
In the photos I snapped you can see them just sitting in the forecourt!
Underneath the steps you see parts of the Opera House that Jørn Utzon AC and its builders never expected you’d see.
Sydney loves a renovation project. Even as I took my image for the story this morning, tourists and residents alike stopped to have a gawk at the spectacle, even in Sydney’s biblical rain spell.
I’ve asked the Opera House team what’s to become of the old steps. Hopefully they’re being reused but I’m sure some money could be made auctioning a few of them off to live a life in retirement as pavers for an eastern suburbs mansion garden.
