Ready and waiting for your return……
The Eden Welcome Centre is a stunning new addition to Eden, officially opened last April by MP Stuart Ayres and MP Andrew Constance.
It was built by the Port Authority of New South Wales – designed by Cox Architecture and constructed by local Eden company Rankins Builders. The building showcases stunning 100+ year old timber beams that the builder sourced from various locations across New South Wales and Victoria including Appleton Dock in Melbourne, and Garden Island in Sydney. The most incredible of these are the 9 metre long beams that rise up from the ground through both floors of the building and out through the roof. The main counter of the ground floor is constructed from repurposed wharf timbers salvaged from Eden’s very own middle wharf after a pylon replacement project in 2019/2020. The north facing exterior wall is actually made up of opening bi-fold panels that house an undercover area to be utilised for market stalls on days when cruise ships are in port. The exterior of these panels have stunning etchings into the wood of indigenous depictions of local animals, artwork created by Cheryl Davidson. The waterfront walkway includes pavers of Eden’s maritime history taking you on a journey of all the notable ships that have entered the Port of Eden.
On the ground floor you will find the Eden Visitor Information Centre in a stunning, modern space that captures the essence of Eden, designed by Studio S2 Architects, specialists in tourism architecture. Here you will find a team of volunteer staff to share local secrets, tips and highlights with you, as well as maps and guides of Eden and the Sapphire Coast. The Centre is also home to a unique range of giftware (inspired by visiting whales, and the surrounding ocean), along with traditional souvenirs and a large range of local products and produce. A visit to Eden wouldn’t be complete without a visit to the Eden Welcome Centre, which is all ready and waiting for your post-lockdown visit. We hope to see you soon!
(Photos courtesy of Phill Small Photography.)
Where are the cafes? Where are the resturants? Where is somewhere to just sit down? Are tourists expected to flock this white elephant? Seriously?
Hi Max, our beautiful new Visitor Information Centre has quadrupled its visitation numbers since moving to its new location, so our move will definitely assist our not-for-profit operation to remain sustainable. As far as cafes and restaurants – they were already at the wharf when this building was planned and constructed. The NSW Government’s (Crown Land) decision to shut down the Eden Wharf Building and demolish it was indeed extremely disappointing – our entire town and its community (and regular visitors) were heartbroken. The fact that they still have made no announcement to any replacement is also extremely frustrating. Eden is, however, proud of its community groups who have stepped up and worked hard to try and find replacement services to visitors including organising food trucks for the last two summer/easter periods and also obtaining grant funding to pay for four shipping containers which are being delivered next month (October) to create a food precinct.