10 Murray will be demolished …
Tasmania’s Planning Tribunal has given the final approval to Hobart’s $100 million Parliament Square redevelopment.
A community action group has been trying to save the government office building at 10 Murray Street from demolition by the proponent, Citta Property Group.
In July, the Supreme Court ruled the 1960s office block could be knocked down, but sent the matter back to the tribunal to consider the heritage value of the old printing office in Salamanca Place.
The Tribunal has now ruled there is no feasible alternative to demolishing the heritage-listed art deco printing office.
Save 10 Murray group spokeswoman Briony Kidd says it calls into question the value of heritage listing.
“The disappointing thing about this decision is it seems to imply to me at least that it really doesn’t mean very much, so you could argue that having the building there doesn’t fit in with what you want to do and that is a valid argument for removing it,” she said.
Citta Property Group says construction should start early next year.
The development will include new government offices and open public space in a city square.
mike seabrook
December 2, 2011 at 10:53
Who is gunna pay to furnish this
Who is gunna lease this & which public service ghosts will occupy this & how much will be paid for how many years.
Guess this is a land-mine primed by the tassie lab-greens for the libs to stumble on in a couple of years.
I think i get it – this was contracted for by the tassie lab-greens to be occupied by the extra 10 pollies ( when they can pull it off), & their myriad of advisers & spinners, & to be paid for in the future by the tassie battlers in fees, charges & taxes
– disclosure please – who is gonna pay & for how long for & what cost..
Judith King
December 2, 2011 at 13:05
This is ridiculous. It is a non-essential project in a time when the State is nearly broke. Any non essential infrastructure projects must be put on hold until the State budget is in the black. On hold until the health system, education, care for our frail aged/mentally ill and homeless is properly funded.
The government can not consider a new building while stripping primary services due to budget shortfalls.
Put this money back into the health system to save lives.
John Biggs
December 2, 2011 at 15:01
Ugly as it might be, the Murray St building is perfectly serviceable so that I agree with #2 that in times of crisis the expense and disruption this will cause is mindblowingly stupid.
Leonard Colquhoun
December 2, 2011 at 18:37
Comment 3, “mindblowingly stupid”: I like that expression – trouble is, we get so much stuff that is mindblowingly stupid that we risk cranial evacuation.
Take this stupid definition of literacy (associated with the federal government, and quoted in a Letter to a Fairfax broadsheet today): “Literacy includes a range of modes of communication, including music, movement, dance, storytelling, visual arts, media and drama, as well as talking, reading and writing”.
That such nonsense can be seriously let loose on the public, with nary a hint of self-mockery, is a sure sign that the Highly Credentialled Stupids have taken over, and that pseudo-academic pomo-babbling has won out over precision and practicality.
Still, it is nice, isn’t it, to be constantly assured that we are being administered and governed by the best educated generation in our nation’s history.
Bluey too
December 2, 2011 at 19:57
I don’t know detail about of this development. But didn’t the state. gov. own all Parliament Square and now wish to divest citing excessive renovation/upkeep costs. 10 Murry demolition aside, isn’t it false economy. And worse, it will be just like PW1 reno, only the State Gov. won’t own it anymore.Final result will be another development with inadequate toilets, parking and supporting public infrastructure for purpose. “Not fit for purpose” – is a rookie error.
I can’t help but wonder – Does the architect or anyone else involved really, e.g. Treasury etc feel let down by the banks of stinky portaloo’s and cyclone fencing marring every event. I do. God save us from Citta.
Dean Parry
December 2, 2011 at 21:11
Bring on the wrecking ball!
I for one, can’t wait.
Sooner the better.
Dean Parry
Hobart
Barnaby Drake
December 3, 2011 at 07:05
There is another building at the top of Salamanca Place that needs demolishing – preferably while still occupied.
Pete Godfrey
December 3, 2011 at 09:45
I class the proposed demolition as vandalism.
It may be ugly but to demolish a perfectly good building to put up another one is a gross waste of resources and energy.
Look at what happened to the “derelict Launceston Hospital” along comes a developer who the government sold the derelict property to for a song. He finds it is perfectly sound, does it up a bit and now it is a 5 star hotel.
Surely if no 10 Murray street is in need of an upgrade then do that. Give it a bit of renovation and a facelift. Don’t waste valuable resources building a new one, especially when there are plenty of other places the money is really needed.
Robin Halton
December 3, 2011 at 13:43
It is anyones guess as to whether No10 Murray St should be knocked down?
I am quite sure the former Premier Bartlett made some of of promise that the State Government would lease back the office space to be created by the replacement buildings.
The “future” deal with Citta is a worry as we dont know what is around the corner as the failed state of Tasmania will probably go into further decline. In my opinion The Parliament Square project is a bold adventure that could land our State government into financial embarrassment.
Deeply Suspicious
December 3, 2011 at 18:15
Unfortunately ‘stupidity’ has governed in Tasmania for several decades and continues to get worse. The current pollies have been mentored by the stupid, they expand upon those learnings and I guess they will pass on their lack of knowledge to their offspring, relatives, friends and friends of friends grooming them for the next generation of pollies. How do we stop this disastrous and destructive cycle???
Peter Brenner
December 3, 2011 at 18:21
Couldn’t agree more with Pete Godfrey. Renovating is the catch cry of architecture at the moment. One very strong and very famous advocate of remodeling instead of demolishing is star architect Jean Nouvel, and he is by far not the only one.
Check out the history of this Geneva office high rise of the sixties. Very much like 10 Murray.
http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/specials/building_switzerland/A_New_Look.html?cid=29735812
If you want to be at the forefront of architecture and town planning these days you redesign, renovate, extend, subtract, revamp and create excitement while saving embodied energy as a substantial bonus.
Search term is (among others) adaptive re-use.
But, that’s right – I forgot, Tasmania is of course unique. Uniquely off the mark!
Barnaby Drake
December 4, 2011 at 04:19
With what little there is left of Wilkie’s money, could it not be refurbished as a hospital annexe and save the cost of building a new hospital?
helen hutchinson
December 4, 2011 at 12:53
How much is the contract price for the new buildings? How much is the sale price for TOTE?