Picabar
PICA | |
| File:Logo of Picabar.png | |
| File:Pica Bar from east.jpg Entry from Cultural Centre walkway | |
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| Address | 51 James Street Perth Australia |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | Lua error in Module:Coordinates at line 611: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).Lua error in Module:EditAtWikidata at line 29: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). |
| Type | Bar, music venue |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 2012 |
Picabar is a bar and music venue located in Perth, Western Australia, within the Perth Cultural Centre.[1] It is situated adjacent to the Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts (PICA) for which the bar is named.[2]
Description
[edit | edit source]The venue features an outdoor courtyard with access from the Perth Cultural Centre, near the steps and plaza,[2][3] as well as outdoor tables along the edge of the cultural centre.[4]
It operates within the old Perth Boys School building,[2] part of the Perth Central School complex in the early 1900s.[5][6]
As of November 2018[update], it employs 15 staff.[2]
History and operations
[edit | edit source]Picabar is the family business of brothers Brian and Conor Buckley, and Brian's wife Melissa Bowen. It opened in 2012 in a space that was unused and had been boarded up for 12 years.[4][7] The bar owners subleased the space from PICA with a six-month lease, and an option for a longer, ten-year term subject to PICA's lease from the state government being renewed.
PICA's lease was not renewed, and both PICA and Picabar then ended up operating on month-to-month leases.[4] Picabar's owners later stated that they were given assurances there would eventually be a long-term arrangement,[2][7][8] a claim denied by the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries' director general Duncan Ord.[9]
Lease renewal dispute
[edit | edit source]In October 2018, ownership of the precinct was transferred from the government to the Perth Theatre Trust (PTT),[10] which terminated PICA's lease,[9] and hence Picabar's sub-lease, with three weeks notice.[10][9] PICA was to be given a new sublease from the PTT, excluding the bar area, which was to be opened up to an expression of interest process.[9] By early November, the government gave Picabar a temporary reprieve until March 2019,[2] and Culture and Arts minister David Templeman intervened to ensure Picabar's owners would be given the first preference in negotiations.[10]
Public outrage led to a campaign to retain Picabar, culminating in a "Save Picabar" petition on Change.org that attracted 11,000 signatures,[11] including direct competitors and other members of the state's hospitality industry.[12] On 15 October 2019, a new five-year lease was signed,[13] with an option for an extension.[14] The lease requires renovations to be undertaken, with allowance for additional alfresco space.[10] The incident, and the "people power" that saved Picabar, received national media coverage.[15]
The venue was substantially renovated in 2020.[1]
Reception
[edit | edit source]The bar features prominently in Perth youth culture as a hangout and social fixture. It has a particular association with hipster culture, being described by The West Australian as "somewhere between a dive bar and a hipster hangout".[16] The bar is a regular topic of local internet culture, with the Instagram meme page 'meet_me_at_pica' regularly posting memes about the venue and associated youth culture.[17]
Gallery
[edit | edit source]
References
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- ^ a b c Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value). Additional pages archived on 20 January 2020: Audio recording, Page 2.
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External links
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