No-one knows more about the heart of Civic, especially his historic property at 131 City Walk, than PETER BARCLAY. In this sponsored post, we take a wander around the businesses of his many and varied tenants. 

FULL of hidden gems, rich in history and home to King O’Malley’s Irish-style pub, 131 City Walk is the heart of Civic.

Arguably, no-one knows more about this part of the city than Peter Barclay, managing director of King O’Malley’s.

In 1967, Peter’s late father, Ted, opened the city’s first gelato bar in Garema Place. Peter says it became a favourite weekend spot to visit on a hot summer’s day. Ted opened a second gelato shop in Monaro Mall, Australia’s first enclosed shopping centre. In the ‘80s Ted and Peter together established Pierre Glasson Ice Cream in one of the City Walk shops which is now King O’Malley’s Blarney Room.

“The building housed the YWCA from the 1930s – providing accommodation for women and helping them to find work during the early years of Canberra,” says Peter.

These days the six-storey building houses a number of businesses and office spaces, most of which are led by women, including Peter’s two favourite cafes – Jina’s Cafe and Sip Coffee Bar, both located on the ground floor of the building.

In April, 1970, Princess Anne officially named the building “The Una Porter Centre”. The original bronze plaque and a framed black and white photo of the young princess in a mini skirt and pillbox hat, hang on the wall of the pub.

In fact, the walls of King O’Malley’s feature artefacts that all tell great stories, including a grand bust of King O’Malley himself, who was one of Australia’s most colourful politicians and famously was responsible for launching the world-wide design competition for the new capital city.

“King O’Malley also advocated for a ban of alcohol in Canberra,” says Peter with a wry smile.

Over the past 21 years, the pub has seen a lot of happy times within its walls, but it’s also been there to support the wider community during times of need, with Peter leading a number of charity fundraisers including a major appeal for the survivors of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and Japanese tsunami, the World’s Greatest Shave and Movember.

He says that for the past 20 years, King O’Malley’s has sponsored the Street Chess club, which meets at the pub every Saturday morning.

In 2007, Peter was awarded the medal of the Order of Australia (an OAM) for service to the community and to business.

Now, as Canberra opens up after lockdown, Peter says he and the team are looking forward to welcoming people again to celebrate the good times at King O’Malley’s and hosting the pub’s annual Beard Competition.

“The pub is the heart of City Walk. We are open seven days till late and for over 20 years it’s become a real anchor and meeting spot with people enjoying our outdoor beer garden and the comfort of the inside of the pub,” says Peter.

“There’s something very welcoming about an Irish-style pub,” says Peter, who was inspired by a visit to an Irish-style pub called O’Malley’s in Shanghai, on a trip to China with his soon-to-be wife, Dot, in the late 1990s.

“I thought: ‘If Canberra had something like that, it would be incredible’,” Peter recalls.

“It’s a place that holds so many memories. Couples have met at the pub and now bring their kids here. It’s been an important part of people’s lives –  from holding wakes, engagements and 21st birthdays, all the milestones that people consider to be special to them.”    

Peter says that Civic is a diverse and welcoming area that’s been the meeting place of Canberra since it was established. He says that the natural beauty of the London plane trees that provide shade and comfort throughout the City Walk are unique and special to Canberra.

Throughout its many years of evolution, Peter says he feels excited for the recent changes he’s been seeing and feels positive about the future of Civic.

“It needs a co-ordinated approach and I encourage the government to continue to keep up the work they have done and support businesses in the city who have had difficult times during the pandemic,” he says.

A walk through 131 City Walk

KING O’MALLEY’S day manager Mark Peisley has worked in the building for more than 13 years and says the atmosphere at King O’Malley’s is second to none. He’s  proud to say he met his wife Kim at the pub.

His hobby of home brewing with his father-in-law, Hugh Mckenzie, has been taken to the next level, thanks to the pub taking their “Stone Age Brewing” beers on tap at the bar. 

“It’s a thrill to have my beer served at the pub,” says Mark, who has set up his “nano brewery” in the basement of King O’Malley’s.

“I get to hear honest feedback and it makes me so happy to hear that people enjoy it!” he says.

FRIENDS since their apprenticeship days, Joe Musolino and Tony Nesci opened Martino’s Hair and Grooming for Men in the City Walk Arcade together 32 years ago and are proud to have been serving their loyal customers over this time.

“We are hidden away, but very central,” says Tony of their modern-day barbershop, located next door to King O’Malley’s pub.

“We are a boutique, niche salon. Our focus is quality over quantity,” says Joe.

Over the years, Joe and Tony say that they have been committed to updating their skills and listening to their clients’ needs.

In addition to classic to modern hairstyles, they offer face and scalp treatments as well as the ever-popular beard styling. In recent years, Joe and Tony were inspired to develop a range of natural skin care products that are exclusively sold at their shop.

Locally made, their range includes a popular pre-shave and beard oil, moisturiser, shaving cream and soaps.

Tony and Joe say they love being part of City Walk’s past and present and have enjoyed supporting many charitable events such as the Greatest Shave and Movember over the years.

Also on the ground floor are Jina’s Cafe, Nancy Sever’s pop-up art space and the Sip Coffee Bar.

IN the basement of City Walk is Fernwood Fitness , a premium 24-hour gym for women. Manager Sky Dockute says that Fernwood Canberra City offers women a unique, boutique experience by focusing on small groups and personal training.

“We offer reformer pilates, personal training and small group personal training,” she says.

“Our classes are only up to 10 people, which lets us give our clients our personal attention and make sure they have the best workout.”

With 15 Fernwood staff, Sky says that each of the trainers has their own strengths in different areas of fitness, but her passion is strength training and reformer workouts.

“Reformer pilates is a huge new trend. It gives you a great whole-body workout in a 45-minute class and anyone can do it. It’s the best thing you can do in your lunch break!” says Sky.   

With a growing membership who tend to work in the city and enjoy their workouts before, after work or during their lunch break, Sky encourages women to visit her friendly team: “Come in and see what we can do for you.”

TAKING the escalator or the staircase to level one of City Walk, Nancy Sever’s art gallery is a visually prominent space, located near Modern Dental, the Nail and Lash Room and the social enterprise, the Sustainable Gardener. 

Nancy says she’s excited to have moved her gallery to City Walk in recent years as she has the only commercial gallery in Civic.

With a long-spanning arts career, including 20 years as the founding director of the Drill Hall Gallery at the ANU, Nancy says she was motivated to open her own gallery because of her passion for art and collaborating with artists.

“I have had the great fortune of working with artists my whole career. In my gallery, I wanted to focus on established artists. When you become a full-time artist, you need to live from your art and I think these artists need a gallery to support them,” she says.

“I try to bring work to Canberra that otherwise wouldn’t be exhibited,” she says.

Nancy says she presents a new exhibition each month, and has been able to move the artworks around to different locations in the building, including turning one of the ground floor units into a pop-up artspace.

“I love the way art makes you see the world,” says Nancy.

“I hope more people get back into the habit of visiting commercial art galleries and making an afternoon of enjoying art while they are in the city,” she says.

Also on the first floor are the Nail and Lash Room, Modern Dental, Sustainable Gardener and the office for UN Women.

THE YWCA’s legacy of their large indoor gymnasium on the second floor with its original sprung timber flooring is now home to Latin Dance Canberra, run by championship dancer, Allan Dantas.

On the upper floors are Content Group, Rowdy Inc, Community Shapers and Future Super.