NJA Book 2024 Soft Copy - Flipbook - Page 12
The Elouera Tony Mundine Gym
The Elouera Tony Mundine Gym is located in
Eveleigh Street, Redfern, an inner-city suburb
of Sydney. The land on which it is sited is
owned by the Aboriginal Housing Company
(AHC) and has a long and turbulent history
dating to the early 1970’s.
At the time local landlords were evicting
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander tenants.
The AHC, with the assistance of a grant from
the Whitlam Government acquired Victorian
terraced dwellings in the locality to secure
low-cost housing for its community. Its final
form was a land holding of approximately
6750sm bounded by Eveleigh, Caroline,
Louis and Vine Street and acquired an
identity as an inner city Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander community and destination for
its broader rural family. It became known as
“The Block”
The events that have played out over a period
of decades in The Block make it a gym with
a history and social significance. This is
reflected in the architectural treatment of the
space.
The critical re-engagement with the broader
community is reinforced with the glazed
interface of the activity within the gym from
the public domain. The main boxing ring and
the matches that take place there will all be
visible from the street.
