The director of the company in charge of the demolition said « shocked » to learn the historical link between the place and the Australian rock group, founded in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young.
It’s an unfortunate coincidence. A piece of musical history fell into ruin last month in a Sydney suburb. At 4 Burleigh Street, a property developer destroyed a building he thought was ordinary, unaware that it was the former family home of Malcolm and Angus Young, co-founders of AC/DC. It was at this address that the two famous rockers created the hard-rock group in the 1970s, while they were still teenagers.
Andrew Worssam/Burwood Council/CNN
In March 2023, a company decided to buy the land on which this house was located for the sum of 5.8 million Australian dollars, or approximately 3.5 million euros. The objective was then to completely demolish the homes to build a 50-story tower with 120 hotel rooms and 48 apartments.
The “shocked” promoter
« Unfortunately, the historical connection to AC/DC has not been made, and we regret that the previous owner did not share this information about the history of the property with us »lamented Leon Kamita, general manager of the Burwood Square company, responsible for the destruction. He and his team say they have been « shocked » to learn « the existence of this link while [leurs] plans were already in progress ».
“The historical connection to AC/DC has not been made, and we regret that the previous owner did not share this information about the history of the property with us »
Leon Kamita, managing director of the Burwood Square company
The house, which was in « bad condition » since the departure of the Young family in 1978, had nevertheless been registered in the register of the Australian National Trust in 2013, a body aimed at « actively protect and conserve places of heritage significance for future generations to enjoy ». But it never received historic protection to prevent its demolition.
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And in 2015, Burwood Town Council ruled that « the group’s habitation period was too brief (1965 to 1978, Editor’s note) to be relevant in the life and work of AC/DC »adding that the house was not responding « to the criteria of aesthetic importance » and that she didn’t have « no known technical or research value ». Thus, even if the town continues to honor the memory of its two legends by installing, for example, a fresco with their image in the neighborhood, it assumes its responsibility in the destruction of the Young family home.
