ONE of Newcastle's most prominent murals will be lost next week when a development project ramps up.
As part of the Gibson Street car park's overhaul, contractors are expected to begin removing a stairwell that features a massive painting of two hyper-realist faces.
The mural, facing King Street, was painted by Melbourne artist Adnate and another creative during the Hit The Bricks street art and graffiti festival in 2014.
Adnate had painted the striking mural of a young Indigenous boy in Wickham for the same festival a year earlier. It was lost to development as well in 2019, but Adnate returned to the city to paint a similar piece on Stewart Avenue shortly after.
Developer Darren Nicholson, who paid for the Gibson Street car park mural, said he had received mixed opinions on the piece over the years but ultimately its place in the city would end next week.
"Depending on the weather, mid to late next week," he said of when the stairwell's brickwork would be pulled down.
"Like it or dislike it ... I don't have a problem in seeing it go.
"It's better than just the brick wall, but it's not something I find iconic to the city ... that's my opinion and not everyone is going to agree with that."
Mr Nicholson also owns the Bolton Street car park, which features a "stunning" Aboriginal mural by Adnate that he said he would never contemplate removing.
He said there might be an opportunity for a new mural at Gibson Street once the new building and additions are completed, or art projections onto an east-facing wall.
The long-planned development includes 50 serviced apartments on King Street, three levels of office space on top of the existing car park and a childcare, gym and cafe at ground level.
"We'd be looking to talk to the university art department and say we've got the projector, do you guys want to do some art? Every week at night, play something different. It's a pretty big wall."
Newcastle hosted the Big Picture Fest last year where a host of new murals were painted on mainly commercial buildings throughout the city over three days.
