On 20 February 1926, the business again moved to new premises; this time to Elizabeth Street, opposite Hyde Park and next to the Great Synagogue, to large block which also had frontage to Castlereagh Street. The stable of newspapers in 1926 then comprised the Evening News, the Sunday News and the Woman’s Budget.
The opening in 1926
Again the premises were purpose built and were launched with some fanfare, the new building being opened by the Governor of New South Wales, Sir Dudley de Chair on 31 March 1926. The opening was celebrated by the production a book The Evening News 1867-1926 – A Record of Progress of a Great Australian Newspaper, which traced the history of the firm from the launch of the Evening News, Sydney’s first evening daily in 1867 and heavily promoted the virtues of the papers and the new building.
Just three years later…
In October 1929 S Bennett Limited merged with Sun Newspapers Limited to form Associated Newspapers Limited.
The amalgamation did not go well and the papers from the S. Bennett Ltd. stable did not last long:
The Australian Sporting and Dramatic News ceased publication on 3 May 1930.
The Sunday News ceased publication on 26 January 1931.
The Evening News ceased publication on 21 March 1931.
The Woman’s Budget continued, being printed by S Bennett Ltd at Elizabeth Street until May 1932 and was then continued as a Sun Newspapers Ltd publication until it was finally incorporated into the Associated Newspapers publication Woman in December 1934.
Fate of the building
After the production of the Woman’s Budget was moved to the new Sun Offices in May 1932, the building languished, incurring an annual maintenance cost of £13,000. Attempts to sell it buy auction in April 1934 were unsuccessful.
Eventually, in 1936, the building passed to a new company, Consolidate Press Ltd, as part of a complex cash and sharesdeal with Sydney Newspapers(principals R C Packer and E G Theodore)publishers ofthe Women’s Weekly. The new company acquired both the building and the plant, with Associated Newspapers receiving £95,000 in cash for the building and £35,000 in paid up shares in the new company for the plant. Sydney Newspapers contributed the Woman’s Weekly to the new company, and Associated Newspapers the Telegraph. Packer and Theodore gained the controlling interest and the scene was set for Consolidated Press (later ACP) to become the media behemoth that developed. The S. Bennett publications were not part of the deal and remained with Associated Newspapers.
The building became the foundation stone for offices of the Packer enclave, which expanded to occupy much of the northern corner of Park, Elizabeth and Castlereagh streets. Better known by its 54 Park Street address, it became the home of a media empire, responsible for the Women’s Weekly and the stable of ACP magazines, the Telegraph, The Bulletin and Channel 9, with Sir Frank and his son Kerry Packer the most fabled occupants.
In 2009, along with the rest of the real estate comprising the ACP Offices, the original Evening News building was sold to AMP Capital Investors for a reported total of $5m. ACP, taken over by German publisher Bauer, and CPH, the Packer investment company, remained in the building under lease.
