A pub, wine store and grocer has opened up in Wollongong's CBD - and it's like nothing the city has seen for almost 100 years.
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Buried for almost a century, the cellar of Hayles Brothers, an 1858 store, as well as the foundations of the 1840s hotel, the Sportsman's Arms have been unearthed by Wollongong latest archaeological dig.
The Crown Street site - which until recently housed the 1930s Lang's Corner building - was also home to the second office of the Illawarra Mercury, which moved into the old wine store between 1870 and 1920.
Langs Corner was razed last year to make way for a multi-million dollar office building, which will - at council orders - incorporate the demolished facade of the former building into its design.
But first, over the next few weeks, a team led by Austral Archaeology director Alexander Beben will be painstakingly sifting through the block looking for clues about Wollongong's past.
"We knew from documented history that this was going to be here, but what the footings tell you is exactly where the buildings were," he said.
"And then any artefacts we find can tell you a lot about how people lived, what kinds of people were living there, what their class was and where they came from.
"So we're literally looking for things that might have slipped between the floorboards.
"It's quite a stark change in use, to go from a wine merchant to a newspaper office, so we're looking for any evidence of that change."
He said the best artifacts would hopefully be discovered as his team works towards the back of the old buildings, where small items were more likely to be left behind and forgotten before being buried during development.
He said any sites along Crown Street revealed information about the emerging business district of Wollongong, after the town began evolving from the harbourside settlement surrounding present-day Market Square.
In recent years, Mr Beben has been involved with several archaeological investigations prompted by development, including the Oxford tavern, the old Dwyers site and Civic Place (on Burelli Street).
"These sort of digs tend to come along, in recent years, every one or two years, and with Wollongong it really helps people to engage with the past," he said.
To encourage this further, the latest site is easily visible from the mall at any time during work hours, and each Friday, the archaeological team will hold free information sessions to discuss their latest findings.
"We have had so many people stopping in to ask what's going on, so we just wanted to make sure no one misses out," Mr Beben said.
The dig is expected to wrap up in mid-March, after which the old foundations will be excavated to make way for a basement car park.
Artifacts showing the site's history will be incorporated into the design of the office building.