Catherine Carter |
Monday, 11 May 2009 5:38 PM |
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CANBERRA got some welcome news when the ACT Government promised $12 million over four years for upgrades to the mid-city precinct.
This funding includes allocations for improved paving and street furniture around the iconic, but ageing Sydney and Melbourne buildings.
When making the announcement, Chief Minister Jon Stanhope said: “This targeted investment will help restore these much-loved buildings to their historic place as the heart of the city’s commercial district. Further works in the city centre will be determined through a detailed planning analysis.”
The shift in retail focus in recent years to the northern part of the city has left these landmarks sadly dilapidated, perhaps with the notable exception of West Row.
The buildings themselves were originally inspired by some of the best from Europe, including Bruneleschi’s Ospedale degli Innocenti and the cloisters of the 15th century Basilica di San Lorenzo di Firenze – an auspicious start. But, according to the attendees at a Property Council public forum on the subject, in late 2007, they need help to avoid an ignominious finish.
There was also a strong call for any refurbishment to include sustainable development principles and intense interest in the possibility that the central courtyards of those buildings could be upgraded from their current apparent use as rubbish dumps and unofficial latrines.
The participants also strongly endorsed a comment that Canberra, while rich in wide-open spaces, was short on public, but intimate areas such as those that could be enclosed by the courtyards in both buildings.
The response at that meeting showed strong and widespread support for a strategic design framework and the sensitive redevelopment of the area, particularly in time for the Centenary of Canberra celebrations in 2013.
The planning study and the funding for paving and street furniture are the first steps in such a renewal process.
In summary, what’s needed is an approach similar to that which has occurred in Sydney in and around areas such as the Queen Victoria Building and along Kent and Sussex Streets, to provide effective and workable solutions for the area.
The two buildings, flanking Northbourne Avenue on the approach from the north towards City Hill, often form the first city scene for visitors driving to Canberra. They are the gateway to our city and they should be one we can all be proud of.
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Catherine Carter |
Monday, 11 May 2009 5:38 PM |
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