Church in Kalgoorlie's red-light district nears completion as nearby former brothel sold for $1 million
/ By Jarrod LucasA former brothel in one of Australia's most famous outback red-light districts has been sold for more than $1 million as construction of a new church nears completion across the road from Kalgoorlie's last surviving bordello.
Key points:
- The once-thriving Langtrees Kalgoorlie brothel has been sold to an unnamed mining company to be used for workers accommodation
- The Church of Christ Kalgoorlie is building its new church across the road from Hay Street's last operating brothel
- Church leaders say the 'wild west' image of Kalgoorlie is no longer accurate, while a local madame welcomes worshippers to the neighbourhood
In a sign of the times, the sale and new church development in historic Hay Street — which had up to 18 operating brothels at its peak — may finally see the gold rush city shed its 'wild west' tag.
Madam Mary-Anne Kenworthy, who bought the Kalgoorlie bordello in 1988 for $185,000 when it was an old corrugated-iron shed, spent more than $2.3 million building a modern bordello and museum for tourists in 2000.
The 16-bedroom property operated as Club 181 and Langtrees Kalgoorlie before closing as a working bordello in 2012.
Ms Kenworthy said the funds from the sale would ensure she could keep her other brothels in Perth, Darwin, and Canberra afloat during the coronavirus pandemic.
"It sold for just over the million. I was happy with that in this market," she said.
"It's a huge relief to know that by selling it I could survive for the next six months because nobody knows exactly what's ahead of us tomorrow.
"I spent a hell of a lot more on it than I got for it today, but it gave me a hell of a lot of fun and pleasure.
"Kalgoorlie gave me the money to build Perth, so you have to pay back some time."
The sale came a fortnight after the death of well-known former Langtrees madam, Leigh Varis-Beswick, the sex worker turned madam who was famously elected on the Kalgoorlie-Boulder City Council.
Ms Kenworthy described the sale as the "end of an era" and laughed in disbelief when told construction of the Church of Christ Kalgoorlie was well advanced.
"It never would have happened 30 years ago," she said.
"But we are in the same street as the police station and the old courthouse, and they changed the street name."
Hay Street now becomes Brookman Street at a roundabout which separates the brothels from the Kalgoorlie Police Station.
"Show me anywhere else in the world where that happened?" Ms Kenworthy said.
"Kalgoorlie is quite unique."
New church nearing completion
Church of Christ Kalgoorlie has been on the same site for 122 years but is moving into Hay Street to make way for a new $16 million shopping complex.
All church services are being held online during the coronavirus pandemic.
But it will not be long before more than 300 parishioners will be hearing God's word in the same street where prostitutes practise the world's oldest profession.
That scenario would have been unthinkable when Larry Gibb became pastor in the 1980s.
"It was a different time," he said.
"I've been pastor for 38 years and we wouldn't have even contemplated it back then.
"Today it's a whole different world and the street has changed."
Church of Christ Kalgoorlie chairman, Ron Mosby, said the wild west image of the city was no longer accurate and the Hay Street church development was proof.
"I think it's a great opportunity to show other parts of Australia, who traditionally only think of Kalgoorlie as beer and brothels or the wild west, what it's really like," he said.
"They don't realise that we've moved on decades ago, the city is a much different place, it's a family-friendly community.
"There were a number of options to go to other locations [to build the church] but we wanted to stay in the CBD and brighten up this part of town."
Madam welcomes new neighbours
Prostitution in Kalgoorlie got its start during the 1890s gold rush and continued illegally for more than a century.
Last year, one of Kalgoorlie's last surviving brothels, known as the Red House, shut its doors and was put on the market.
Today, Questa Casa, otherwise known as the Pink House, is the last bordello standing.
When the lights are on after dark it means there is a sex worker on duty, but that is becoming rarer, and the house survives as a museum.
Amid the coronavirus pandemic, daily tours are cancelled until social distancing measures are relaxed.
"You'd be surprised at the number of calls I've had from people asking 'are you open? Do you have any ladies?'" said Questa Casa's madam, Carmel.
"When I say to them, 'We're closed, we're not permitted to operate with social distancing', they ask, 'Why?' And I say, 'Because we want to stay alive'."
When asked about her new neighbours Madam Carmel welcomed them to the neighbourhood, and said she received a warm welcome when she bought the bordello when newly widowed in 1992.
"I suppose this [church] shows that we're becoming civilised," she said.
"I wish them well, they'll be very happy over there. I don't think it will make much difference on this side of the street.
"When I first came here this was the wild west. People, even today, who come on the tour say 'I was here 27 years ago and it was so different'.
"Now everything has quietened down."
Selling a brothel takes special buyer
Real estate agent, Margaret Boyden, said the Langtrees property was one of her more memorable listings during a 26-year career in Kalgoorlie-Boulder.
She said it was the second brothel she has sold after selling backpackers' accommodation last year which previously operated as a brothel.
"I had one person fly up to view the property and he didn't know the history," Ms Boyden said.
"Obviously today it's not a brothel, but there is a lot of history here and I felt a lot of people would like to own 181 Hay Street.
"If you've been here on a tour, or you've been here to visit the premises, you feel like the walls would have something to say."