Arabic version: نيو ساوث ويلز تقاضي المالك بشأن مقهى باراغون المتداعي
The NSW government has taken Conset Investments to the Land and Environment Court, accusing the owner of breaching heritage laws by allowing the Paragon Cafe in Katoomba to fall into a derelict state.
According to ABC News, Heritage NSW photographic inspections compared images from 2014 and 2025 showing interiors graffitied and vandalised, riddled with mould, a partially collapsed ceiling, peeling wall paint and gaping holes from missing floorboards. The photographs attribute the damage to illegal parties, squatters and water damage, and the government will bring the matter to court on July 17.
The Paragon is a 110-year-old, heritage-listed inter-war art deco cafe established in 1916, renowned for its Moruya marble soda fountain and alabaster friezes. After its sale in the early 2000s and its closure in 2018, the once-popular cafe that drew tourists and locals has been the focus of local lobbying for urgent repairs and maintenance.
The building’s interiors and fittings reflect its history: renovations in the 1920s added a banquet hall and a ballroom, and the rooms were designed by architect Henry Eli White with alabaster friezes by Dutch sculptor Otto Steen. Family members of founder Zacharias Theodore Simos have described the Paragon as a locally significant example of Greek-Australian cafe culture and confectionery-making that grew into a tourist draw for Katoomba.
Local group Friends of the Paragon, led by president Robert Strange, estimates restoration works could now cost more than $1 million, citing prolonged neglect and a roof replacement carried out “ineffectively” that allowed rainwater to leak from the ceiling and cause extensive water damage. Conset Investments principal director John Landerer, a Sydney lawyer, told the ABC works to make the property compliant with heritage laws would cost about $700,000 and were expected to be completed in May 2027; when asked if he had plans to reopen the cafe, he replied, “We certainly do want to open it to the public.” The court action follows two intervention orders by Heritage NSW to improve the property’s condition.
The Land and Environment Court will hear the case on July 17.
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