Source : Perth Now news
Spring cleaning season is around the corner, and a group of committed Freo locals are preparing to hit the streets for a city-wide clean up event — starting with an overdue refresh of the dilapidated Hungry Jacks site.
The recently-formed Good Fund Freo group is inviting the community to come together for the inaugural Big Freo Spring Clean on Saturday, September 12.
Attendees will spread out across central Fremantle armed with tongs, gloves, cleaning spray and rubbish bags to target dirty windows, littered laneways and neglected spaces in the city.
Good Fund Freo member Sarah Booth said Fremantle is experiencing a lot of challenges as a city, and it requires a team effort to keep it thriving.
“We’re really excited with this spring clean to generate that act of caring for place and reactivating pride in our centre through rolling our sleeves up and getting involved,” she said.
“We’ll basically be picking up as many ciggy butts, wash as many filthy windows and scrub off as many tags as we can in that three hours, and just take responsibility for our town.
“The idea is that we can take care of Fremantle. We don’t have to wait for other people to, it’s something we can all do every day.”
In exciting news for locals who have suffered from the proclaimed eyesore of the cappuccino strip for almost 10 years, the old Hungry Jacks site will also be transformed as part of the spring clean.
Fremantle councillors voted in March to give the owners development approval to convert the building into a three-storey tavern.
But local urban renewal company Spacemarket revealed last month they had special permission to activate the space in the meantime.
Ms Booth, who is also a director at Spacemarket, told PerthNow she is finalising negotiations to host a pop-up in the building for six months, and the big spring clean will be the first step in the revamp.
“I think the Hungry Jacks, the fact that it’s sat vacant for the better part of the last decade, it feels like a cherry on top being able not only to get stuck into the centre, but to get stuck into this building and prepare it for this pre-development use,” she said.
“We’ll see the windows opened again and people back in the space again, and kind of bringing life back to that very central corner of the High Street again.
“It is really filthy, but we’re looking to clean it and then activate it as soon as possible. We’re not going to be changing it that much, but we want it to have a really oversized impact on the way that part of the city feels.”
The cleaning crew will meet at 9am in Horatio’s Lane behind Gino’s. The event will last for three hours, and people are encouraged to bring their own cleaning supplies and participate for any amount of time they can.
The event is being presented in partnership with the Fremantle Foundation, City of Fremantle, Fremantle Men’s Shed and other local businesses.
Prizes will be awarded on the day to the most enthusiastic participants, and Urban Winery will sponsor with beverage tokens.
Ms Booth hopes it will become an annual event, and encourages everyone to take care of the city when they visit.
