Leongatha Memorial Hall Feasibility Study
Council has begun work on developing a business case and feasibility study for the redevelopment of Memorial Hall that looks at current and future use, multi-use, demographics, population growth, service, service levels, heritage, redevelopment models, constraints, benchmarking with other population centres, demand, impact on small towns, accessibility, and whether operational costs can be supported and maintained.
The business case would also consider the relationship between other halls and venues both within and outside of the Shire, including the Foster War Memorial Arts Centre.
Council states that a strong case for State Government and Commonwealth Government support and contribution towards capital works can only be made if underpinned by a solid business case that has a forward projection extending over 25 years.
Council’s Infrastructure Planning team initiated the development of a business case and feasibility study in 2023/2024 in consultation with relevant stakeholders including the Arts, Culture and Visitor Economy department.
The feasibility study is supposed to investigate the Memorial Hall building as a performance space and theatre as detailed within Council’s 4 year plan.
The tender documents however suggest another plan is in mind by the officers. Those documents indicate the name of the study as “Leongatha Memorial Hall Precinct Feasibility Study”.
A precinct is not confined to the Memorial Hall but is a larger area so a bigger project not indicated by the Council 4 year plan 2022-2026.
When one reads the documents more closely it can be seen that a second building site is proposed on the adjoining property to the Memorial Hall and specifications in the tender documents indicate a proposal for the redevelopment of the current Council offices on that site along with various inclusions making the total project approximately 3 times the size of the Memorial Hall area.
History of the municipal office project
Back in the 2012-2016 Council term the administration inserted a $32 Million project into the budget and hid it from ratepayers. The information on this project was released to the ratepayers via a letter to the editor in the Sentinel Times written by then Cr Don Hill who is now editor of South Gippsland Voices newspaper. The community then reacted strongly against the imposition of this $32 Million project and the newly elected Councillor group at the 2016 election voted to remove the project in 2017.
But the officers were not done. They quietly worked behind the scenes awaiting their opportunity and in June 2019 the administrators approved the administration’s budget papers which included start up cash for refurbishment of the current Council offices in Smith Street Leongatha. This led to a complete gutting of the ground floor space and reconstruction of the internal areas. As part of this improvement, they managed to make the external windows so that people could not view the officers at work inside as could be done in the past. You could say they made the Council less transparent to outside scrutiny!
After the internal fit out at a cost of a few million dollars a tender was put out in 2023 for the external revamp which is currently being assessed. Maybe another million here.
As part of the 2020-2024 Creative Arts Plan an assessment of the Leongatha Memorial Hall was to be conducted. This review was to explore and develop a business case and feasibility study for the redevelopment of Memorial Hall that looks at current and future use, multi-use, demographics, population growth, service, service levels, heritage, redevelopment models, constraints, benchmarking with other population centres, demand, impact on small towns, accessibility, and whether operational costs can be supported and maintained.
Officers began work on this in 2023 and in August Councillors spoke of this too.
Council put out a tender in November 2023 and added more detail to the assessment. It now included the buildings and space adjoining the Memorial Hall and the specifications for the tender now included Council offices, the Council Chamber and Council meeting rooms as well as adding in a Leongatha Library and first time mentioning of a community hub like the new Korumburra Hub which would also include other community facilities in addition to the Council offices and library.
So, the cat is now out of the bag. Let’s explore this project further.
Leongatha Theatre Investigation morphed into a Leongatha Theatre Complex morphed into the Municipal Office Hub-confirmed by Council tender
South Gippsland Shire Council is seeking expressions of interest (EOI) from suitably qualified consultants to undertake a Feasibility Study and prepare a Business Case that will review and provide recommendations for the future use, design and service model for a
new Leongatha Memorial Hall Precinct.
Expressions of interest are sought from consultants well experienced in undertaking feasibility studies and preparing business cases for the development of regional hubs incorporating Performing Arts, Library and Cultural facilities.
The Heritage Victoria listed Leongatha Memorial Hall and former Shire Offices is located in the heart of Leongatha on the corner of McCartin Street and Michael Place. Constructed in the 1920’s the building consists of a large brick, hip roofed public hall fronted by two storey Free Classical façade and single storey wings to either side, terminating at the corner with an engaged colonnaded rotunda and returning North along Michael Place in a single storey classical facade which fronted the former Shire Offices.
The Memorial Hall element of the building is still in regular use with other elements of the building being utilised as the Council Chamber, Meeting Rooms and Community Spaces. The site also contains a central courtyard and public toilets. One of a small group of Shire buildings erected in Victoria as war memorials, it is the largest single memorial erected in the Shire to commemorate the First World War. Council states the Leongatha Memorial Hall is due for asset renewal and Council’s Arts & Culture strategy recognises the hall as the most appropriate site for development into a performance space within the municipality. These two factors along with ageing community infrastructure and a desire to consolidate services and provide multi-functional buildings within the municipality are the underlying principles behind the project.
The proposed Leongatha Memorial Hall Precinct currently containing the Council Chambers and Council meeting rooms will include a two storey Community Hub element (approx. 880m2 footprint) including such area as a Library, Community Spaces, community meeting rooms and public toilets whilst providing updated theatrical capability in the Heritage listed Memorial element of the project (approx. 900m2).
Other key elements for the project will include the interaction with the existing street scape, public amenity and parking requirements.
The proposed timeline
In November the tender was put out for consideration. The timeline for the project is as follows:
Invitation Issued 25/11/2023
Invitation close date 19/12/2023
Closed Tender process early February 2024
Closed Tender closes early March 2024
Ideal Project start Early April 2024
It appears that the construction phase is included in the tender exploring the feasibility study. Those shortlisted in this inital phase could take part in a closed tender for the works which seem scheduled to start April 2024. Either way, the timeline does not appear to show a period for public consultation of the project which would not be designed until March 2024 at the earliest.
On the above timeline it would seem Council would need to approve the successful tenderer in the March Council meeting and give the public a couple of weeks to view it in early April before work begins.
The possible cost to date
The council set aside something around $4 million for the internal refurbishment of the main offices in Smith Street and another 1 million perhaps for the external currently under tendering.
An additional amount equal to the internal fit out was within the budget a few years ago before they closed down the 15-year capital works program details from being included in the annual budget papers. This amount was for a municipal precinct. So maybe $9 million so far.
In this year’s budget an amount of $9 million has been set aside for buildings (not the Korumburra Hub) and another $1 million for historical buildings so if this is included total of $19 million so far.
After a contract is awarded and as they do not have a firm figure for the whole project works additional amounts could be included in next year’s budget so final cost is unknown at this stage.
Toilet problem for Council
A glance at the property title boundary on the map above shows the toilet block attached to the Council building appears to be located outside the title area. Further investigation shows the toilet block to seemingly be located on McNamara’s Place which is a road. Normally buildings built off the property cause planning problems so we asked Council planners about this and they said please put the questions in writing and we will consider them and get back to you. No response has been received from Council to date.
The property area showing McNamara Place
indicated in pink along northside of Council buildings
Additional proposed development area including the “outhouse” toilet block seemingly located smack bang in the middle of McNamara Place and not within the Council building land.
You must be logged in to post a comment.