Myer leased all those shop fronts out to all the businesses that were in the laneway, which was how we were able to tap into their power and get away with it. And the fire escape that was in the St. Jerome’s courtyard was a Myer fire escape. But no one required access to that fire escape, because that part of the building was abandoned, so we moved in with all our couches. It was a grey area. Myer people would always come down and say, ‘get that stuff out and keep the fire escape clear.’ Even though no one used it. Eventually everyone in the laneway got sent a letter saying all the leases would expire in nine months with no renewals because they were demolishing the building to an extent. Everyone got the letter and moved out, but Jerome fought it for as long as he could. He fought it for six to nine months longer than everyone else but eventually they called it. Saying, ‘demolitions start in two weeks, so get out and move somewhere else before it becomes a pile of rubble.’ That was the end of it. I didn’t get down to the final weekend of the bar because as much as I wanted to go down and say goodbye to the venue, it was a shell of its former self. I didn’t want to see kids tearing shit off the walls, and treating it with no respect after I’d loved that little shop front for years and years.
