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Perth The Stockade
The Stockade tends to refer to the entire building at the corner of Wellington and Barrack Street in the Perth CBD. Many people may have noticed it over the years without giving it much thought, as it remains boarded up for some 20 years. It encompasses a few street addresses including 395, 399 and 401 Wellington Street, as well as 145 Barrack Street.
I remember sitting by Shirley Mort’s side on the overpass connecting the Perth Train Station and Myers one afternoon, when a man sporting a top hat (my memory may be somewhat distorted) approached Shirley for a chat. I think Shirley later told me they’d known each other for a very long time, which wasn’t surprising, seeing as Shirley was part of the Perth scene for more than 30 years and had touched so many hearts with her selfless care and kindness.
The man told her that he was thinking about closing up (The Stockade) because sales weren’t good. Everyone was buying online. I don’t recall what year it was but within six months, that was it. The Stockade was closed for good. I later heard that the man was based in Claremont and continued to sell online but I didn’t hear anything more after 2006.
The One Opportunity!
The shop remains boarded up and closed today, with signs of squatters barge arsing their way in over the years. The ONE time I passed by early in the morning and saw the building accessible, I made a beeline. I’d waited so long for this opportunity and I couldn’t bear missing out.
I tried to be quick taking photos, especially as I didn’t know if any of the squatters were there, so many needles littered the floor and I didn’t have a torch but it was impossible to be quick. Just when I thought I’d finished, there were more stairs and more doors leading in all sorts of directions. To this date, I can’t even remember how many floors there were. It might have been as many as four or five but the external façade sure hides the mysteriousness of the building’s internal world and photos can’t possibly do justice!
A listing on inHerit states that the building is only two storeys!
The only part I didn’t go to was the very top, where the heavy jarrah staircases were covered in thick layers of pigeon poo and some 20 pigeons would fly around like an attack brigade every time I came too close.
