Education and heritage

Billy MacTold

In May, when the Government was talking about seeking expressions of interest in this block, a local group of health professionals came up with the idea of turning old St Mary’s into what they called the Tasmanian Health Education Centre. The Mercury headline then nicely captured the concept: “Education role for sandstone heritage”.
TASMANIANS show justifiable concern on the need to preserve our beautiful natural environment. Be it mountain, forest or coastal reaches, the message of keeping it green and clean is paramount. And this means protection.

This natural environment is our heritage, our inheritance, yet it’s essential there should also be an awareness of, and commitment to protecting our heritage-built environment. Yes, much has been achieved with the convict era properties as tourist attractions. But much more needs to be done to safeguard other historic buildings from colonial days, and this island state has a rich depository of them, particularly in the multitude of churches now at risk.

Responsibility for their rescue rests with many people, not the least our politicians. But is there the willpower?

Following State Labor’s rejection of a bid by the Greens in Parliament to seek in-principle financial aid to save Holy Trinity Anglican Church, I’ve seen another indication of Labor’s approach.

It came in a Mercury report last week that a prime block of Hobart real estate behind Parliament will be offered to developers early next year. Bounded by Murray and Davey Streets and Salamanca Place, this is the Government-owned Heritage Square and it includes an important link to our past – the former St Mary’s Private Hospital.

The exterior sandstone (said to be from the same source as the flaking exterior of Holy Trinity) was given a major facelift last year. But there’s the unrealised potential of this building as a whole, for it’s been empty some 30 years.

In May, when the Government was talking about seeking expressions of interest in this block, a local group of health professionals came up with the idea of turning old St Mary’s into what they called the Tasmanian Health Education Centre. The Mercury headline then nicely captured the concept: “Education role for sandstone heritage”.

Drawing on support from a wide range of health disciplines, they formed a working committee to negotiate with the Government. The vision was one of bringing together various historical collections for display (as an example, I understand the Nursing Museum that used to be at the Hobart Royal Hospital was packed away and put in storage when its space was needed for ward expansion), as well as “centralising medical and allied resource material for research projects”, public lectures, talks, discussions on health matters, and so on – a noble recycling of a heritage building dating from 1847 and honouring what was the first private hospital in Australia providing free medical treatment for the poor.

But now, just a few months after the group announced their initiative, we suddenly find Treasury is tendering to find a company to run those “expressions of interest” for the overall site.

We have Sullivans Cove Waterfront Authority head Jeff Gilmore talking of a lot of interest being shown, that ideally there would be one developer. Mention of a desire to “activate the three sides of the block”, that there might be retail and cafes, office space requirements, Tourism Tasmania highlighting a need for more accommodation . . .

That doesn’t sound like the Government thinking about the imaginative use of St Mary’s as a health education centre.