Casting an imposing shadow over C.Y. O'Connor beach is a decaying monument to our past and a stunning showcase of brutalist architecture. Closed in 1985, the South Fremantle Power Station now resembles a decrepit shell of its former glory, coated in a mosaic of urban art.
The abandoned South Fremantle Power Station in North Coogee was opened in 1951 after five years of construction to power a growing Perth and Fremantle metropolis. Employing over 250 people at its peak, the station was eventually closed after advances in technology (ironically at the now controversial
Muja plant) deemed it uneconomical.
South & East walls of the abandoned Fremantle Power Station
To get the best out of a trip to the power station it's best to go weekdays or after dark on weekends as the place is well patrolled during the day on weekends. Technically you aren't allowed to go in, but if you want to be adventurous, half of the fence on the beach side has been pulled down for your convenience.
Once inside the building you're met with a cavernous chamber, completely empty besides rubble and empty bottles. The walls however are alive with colour. Every nook and cranny available to be painted, has been painted, then repainted, and so on. The internal structure is an incredible 360 degree mosaic of constantly evolving
graffiti art. The lengths some people have gone to to get prime real estate is just unbelievable.
Graffiti occupies every centimetre
By day the sunlight bounces of the brightly coloured walls, but by night the graffiti adds to the abandoned stations harrowing reputation. This is a place many believe to be haunted.
The wind creates an eerie atmosphere as it whips through the thousands of empty window sills, torn remnants of cloth flapping in the breeze. Chains dangle slowly and rustic girders strain as the distant sound of crashing waves haunts the night air. The building is loud yet unnervingly devoid of sound and life.
Inside the abandoned power station at dusk
Your mind starts to play tricks on you, you're sure you just heard footsteps, a voice, breathing. The inevitable rumours surrounding the abandoned - haunted - power station are humbling.
If you're to believe word-of-mouth, underground tunnels connect the power station to the
Fremantle Prison, within which occult cults practice their sinister rituals. There is potentially some merit to this as pentagrams are scattered throughout the buildings empty rooms. Many, myself included, have found patches of blood on the floors and walls.
A lone gantry crane is the sole reminder of the power stations industrial past
Rumours of murder and suicide are abundant - the latter of which is easy to see as truth, suicides are rarely reported. According to various informal sources, four murders have taken places in the office area. The ghosts of those said to see their life end here are told to be trapped forever within the monoliths confines.
Adding to the daunting rumours are the equally distressing truths. This is a winter refuge of junkies and the homeless. Those sounds you keep telling yourself are in your head may likely be coming from a group of displaced citizens hiding from the realities of the world which has failed them.
Sun shines through the abandoned power station windows
Whilst the Fremantle Power station was operating it was not immune to tragedy either. Many workers did meet an untimely, gruesome demise inside its walls. From falling to electrical burns and mechanical mishaps, there are plenty of lives consumed by the power station to give rise to haunting stories.
Due to its heritage listing,
great difficulties have arisen in what to do with the building. Demolition seems the obvious answer due to the enormous cost that would surely be encountered by redeveloping it, but its historical significance has so far prevented this.
Remnants of the abandoned powerstations cooling pond
With
new urban developments now sprouting up around the powerhouse it is becoming increasingly urgent a plan is put to place. The once isolated powerhouse is now surrounded by new housing estates, and no prime coastal land to date has been able to escape the clutches of Perth's unquenchable thirst for development.
