The McGregor Hall closeout as it happened

Where are the greens in all this- I heard stanhope on 666 mewling self righteously about how the ANU out of the “goodness of their heart” had allowed activity at Mc Gregor hall and now this community whinging was ungrateful. Forgive me but I seem to remember a plethora of community groups at the Rocks and was under the impression that we, the people , had ultimate title to that land. The ANU who stanhope lovingly describes as the ‘big end of town’ have subsumed this community capital for what return and the community should stand back in submissive awe? mc Gregor Hall brought life, community and difference to the City Centre which this town has a deficit of…

Contrary to what troll-sniffer implies the DA still has to be approved. Objections can still be lodged with the Land and Planning Authority.

JessicaNumber said :

Well then I guess we all eagerly await the results of the Heritage Council and eventually the site will either need to be repaired and maintained or it can be safely demolished and sold.

I’m hoping for repaired and maintained, it’s a genuine community hall and goodness knows that Canberra could use a few more “Community Halls” to fill in that huge community arts gap between the art galleries, nightclubs and church halls, none of which are appropriate venues for the noisier cultural events.

I think you’ll find that the site is a key component in the overall plan for CityEdge (or whatever the ANU/City amalagamation zone is called) and as the overall plan has been approved, and is well underway, the heritage component of a small temporary structure that has so far managed to stand the test of time will be about as big a factor in the life of Canberra as your last swim at the beach had on future of the Pacific Ocean.

Well then I guess we all eagerly await the results of the Heritage Council and eventually the site will either need to be repaired and maintained or it can be safely demolished and sold.

I’m hoping for repaired and maintained, it’s a genuine community hall and goodness knows that Canberra could use a few more “Community Halls” to fill in that huge community arts gap between the art galleries, nightclubs and church halls, none of which are appropriate venues for the noisier cultural events.

According to Joy Burch’s Department of Disability, Housing and Community Services there was a pre-demolition inspection done by a private firm (routine prior to the demolition of any building) which identified some health/safety concerns, including a low risk relating to existing asbestos that was no longer safely contained. At the time of a routine inspection done a few months ago (presumably by DHCS) these risks were not present. The consultant brought these new concerns to DHCS’s attention and DHCS acted on them immediately, going in with the EPA which said the site needed to be shut down immediately.

If its dangerous it should go. Did they (1) keep it open knowing it was dangerous or (2) did its danger only become apparent when heritage listing seemed likely? There are only two options and the paper-trail will probably show.

basketcase said :

The last few seconds of that movie said it all, pan from the new developments to the hall.

Asbestos, your joking.

It seems that whenever a building is about to be knocked down against the public’s wishes the asbestos excuse is always rolled out. Witness the outcry over the construction of Fox Studios on the old Sydney Showground site at Moore Park in the 1990s. All of a sudden Murdoch’s newspapers were full of stories about how the old Showground had to go because the buildings were riddled with asbestos. It’s a bit like how the greenies suddenly discover spotty-nosed whatevers on greenfields sites whenever a new development is proposed.

The last few seconds of that movie said it all, pan from the new developments to the hall.

Asbestos, your joking.

Lots of things here. Nobody had any answers they were being extremely evasive. One interesting comment was “ït will never be open again” now how can they make a statement like that if they were so uncertain about everything else?

If the building is a health and safety risk to people using it then it must also be a health and safety risk to builders.If we can’t go near it then neither can they.

They also have to make the building safe before they can demolish it. If it is as dangerous as they say then outright demolition would contaminate the whole area.

This is an example I found:

An asbestos-containing building that is to be torn down may have to be sealed (see third picture on right), and to have its asbestos safely removed before ordinary demolition can be performed. The asbestos removal may take longer and cost more than the actual demolition. For example, the former seat of parliament of East Germany, the Palast der Republik, was stripped of most of its asbestos between 1998 and 2001, before it was finally demolished starting in 2006.

Ok I can’t view vids at my work so I’m commenting blind on that aspect.

I have been a user of McGregor Hall twice a week for about three years now (as a dancer with Jumptown Swing). I know that the people looking after the hall have know about the asbestos, it’s been undisturbed and not a risk – if it was a risk they would not have let anyone use it.

I don’t know all the details but I know they have had regular checks on the asbestos including one sometime last year and until now it’s been deemed fit for use.

I just hope that it’s all being looked at objectively and their not just there trying to find problems – or making them sound worse than they are to support the developers.

I love this hall – it’s one of the best dance floors in Canberra and has a vibe second to none, it’s the only building of its kind in the city and very important for the community. Fingers crossed that with the community support for McGregor that they’ll do the right thing and decide to keep it