Cultural Centre costs skyrocket

UPDATED: 10AM, OCTOBER 19, 2021

The cost to build the new Cowes Cultural Centre has risen to $27.2 million, an $8.2 million increase from the original estimate.

Bass Coast Shire Council announced the new figure last Friday, saying a tender for the construction would go before the October Council meeting this week.

Bass Coast Mayor, Cr Brett Tessari defended the cost blow out, saying the final design was “completely changed from the original concept”, and due to the pandemic, construction costs had risen by 40 per cent.

He reinforced the council’s commitment to the project, describing the new building as the “jewel in the crown” of the shire, but said he expected there would be criticism of the cost increase.

“It’s easy to look at that (the numbers), but the project is completely different to what we originally looked at. The design changed after meeting with different groups and discussing what they wanted, and it reflects what they asked for.

“We’ve saved trees, saved the grassed area, there’s more floor space and it’s more economical to run.”

The response from the community was swift, with many brutal in their assessment of the council’s handling of the project.

Funded

Despite the cost increase, Cr Tessari said the project is fully funded, with the state government contributing $3.3 million, $5 million from the Federal government and a $10 million low-interest loan from the Community Infrastructure Loan Scheme.

That leaves $8.3 million to be covered from Council reserves.

“We agreed we were going to build this and if we had to, fund it ourselves out of borrowings and reserves. That’s what we’ve done,” Cr Tessari said.

The new design, by Jackson Clements Burrows Architects includes a library, 250-seat theatre, gallery, café and community hall, as well as meeting and gathering spaces.

The Mayor said the design considered world-leading sustainability principles, to ensure it aligned with Council’s Climate Change Action Plan.

“The architects have created a building that not only looks good but will be good to the planet. Because of its design, it is estimated there will be a 60 to 70 per cent reduction in operational energy requirement over its lifetime, in turn, reducing our operating cost.”

Cr Tessari said “a lot of homework” had gone into the project, including visiting facilities in Cranbourne and Bendigo.

“We travelled and asked questions of people who have gone through a similar process.”

Cr Tessari said the extra $8 million was justified, “if people are willing to listen”, listing his top three reasons as:

• the sustainability and efficiency of the design which would save money in the long run, by decreasing electricity and running costs
• the cost of landscaping and furnishings, not part of the original budget, are now included
• the new design had a larger footprint and more space

“We would have been criticised if we built the original, which wasn’t what the community wanted,” he said.

“Whichever way we turn we will be criticised. But we’ve taken our time to design a special building. When we voted for the original concept two years ago, who knew we were going to have a pandemic and a construction freefall, with prices going through the roof.”

Goosebumps

Cr Tessari said although there were vocal critics of the project, he said most people he spoke to were “very excited by it”.

“You hear too much about arts and culture being left behind in this pandemic. This is us saying, we’ve got your back. I get goosebumps thinking about driving down Thompson Avenue and seeing that building,” he said.

Although Cr Tessari believes council has exhausted funding options for the build itself, it would “continue to advocate for funding to make sure we bring the sort of shows to the Cultural Centre that are suitable for the kind of building we are going to build”.

While he agreed there would be a “certain amount of commercial use” of the building, he said community groups would be able to utilise the space, saying he hoped people would “embrace and love it”.

The council confirmed the fee structure for the new facilities would be provided in early 2022.

A consistent concern from community groups is that a similar fee structure to the Wonthaggi Union Theatre (particularly around the ticketing costs), would make it unviable for many small groups to use the centre.

“Council is always conscious of fairness and access regarding fees and charges in its facilities and continues to seek a balance between managing facilities, their costs and ensuring access,” CEO Ali Wastie said.

“It is intended that the Cowes Cultural and Community Centre will be activated for long parts of the day, all through the week, by all parts of the community. Council is currently developing its Service Plan. This will guide programming and potential use of the centre, including community hire. As with all Council Community facilities, the focus is to enable dynamic activation of the facility.”

If the tender is awarded at the October meeting, work is expected to begin in November, after the Heritage Centre and Library building is demolished.

Ms Wastie said the preferred builder has indicated a preference to use as much labour, materials and plant from the Bass Coast region as possible.

“Utilising industry groups, there will be briefings arranged and conducted for local contractors and subcontractors to be identified and engaged in the build,” she said.

“The preferred builder also offers a site management cadet program for local apprentices.”

Previously the council said the Cultural Centre would be open by December 2022, but the project opening has now been pushed back to February 2023.

According to Bass Coast Shire Council, during construction, the centre will generate 69 jobs and 30 ongoing jobs once built, as well as $51.8 million in economic benefit over the life of the project.