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Few know Newtown better than Heleana Genaus.
Co-Founder of Rising Sun Workshop, where motorcyclists can come to talk shop and repair their machinery, as well as District Coordinator for Newtown Enmore Precinct, Heleana Genaus has her finger on every pulse in the area.
Newtown and Enmore have long been the blueprint for vibrant, after-dark districts in NSW – from King Street’s bustling mix of bars, restaurants and vintage clothing stores to Enmore Road, dubbed one of the world’s coolest streets and NSW’s first Special Entertainment Precinct. However, places like this don’t simply appear; they’re shaped from the ground up by their communities.
One of the seminal figures shaping Newtown and Enmore right now is Heleana Genaus, Co-Founder of Rising Sun Workshop and District Coordinator for the Newtown Enmore Precinct.
“Rising Sun Workshop is a communal DIY workshop space for motorcyclists to work on their own machines, supported by a 90-seat restaurant,” Genaus told us.
“We started as a pop-up in Newtown, before moving to our permanent location in the same postcode, which is where we've been now for almost 10 years.” Rising Sun Workshop came to life in 2013 through a crowdfunding campaign, led by Genaus, which saw over $40,000 raised by 160 community members who wanted a space to connect and work on their bikes.
It’s this same spirit of grassroots community improvement that has animated Genaus’ career, which now includes her role as Secretary of the Newtown Enmore Business Community (NEBC) and, for the past 2 years, being District Coordinator of the Newtown Enmore Precinct, an Uptown District working with local businesses to enact areawide change and collaboration.
“With the Special Entertainment Precinct unfolding over Enmore Road, we really felt the absence of a united voice within our business community. I became the Secretary of the NEBC, and through that governance structure we were able to take advantage of the opportunities emerging through the [Office of the 24-Hour Economy Commissioner’s] Uptown Program,” Genaus said.
Read the full article here.
Find out more and connect with the Newtown Enmore Precinct here.
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