Waste everything at McGregor Hall

@neanderthalsis
these are the plans
http://www.anuexchange.net/masterplan.php

Cameron said :

Am I the only one who has never heard of McGregor Hall (other than through the RA coverage) and couldn’t really care less whether they knock it down or name it a world heritage site?

I often parked my car in front of it when I was attending the ANU about 10 years ago and was amazed it was still standing then. It was a rapidly-composting demountable shack.

Zanzibert said :

But I really don’t care about MacGregor hall either. It’s the vandalistic waste of secondhand furniture that gets to me.

So much for the ACT Government bleating about NoWaste. There are plenty of people in the ACT who could make good use of the furniture etc which has been tossed into piles. Looks like the stuff is ready to be junked and put into landfill. Disgusted.

Rawhide Kid Part3 said :

I was just wondering if the the building covered (to OH&S specifications)while the asbestos was being removed so as to protect the workers and passers by?

That should read “was covered” …dam slow keyboard!!!

I was just wondering if the the building covered (to OH&S specifications)while the asbestos was being removed so as to protect the workers and passers by?

The gear inside almost looks as good as the outside. In other words, crap. I really can’t believe people are still trying to preserve this junk. It has next to no historical value and the building is shoddy at best. I hate the ACT Governments decisions on a lot of things and their lack of public consideration, but this isn’t Cameron offices, it is an asbestos shack.

bit tricky when there’s a surprise lockout of the building VG.

Not to mention that the gear (the best stuff there was the recently-refurbed kitchen and the snooker table) belonged to the ACT Government, so taking it would have been theft.

But what happened to the Pool Table?
I hope that is not just tossed out in that mess.

realityskin said :

I want that bookshelf

So do I!

But I really don’t care about MacGregor hall either. It’s the vandalistic waste of secondhand furniture that gets to me.

Cameron said :

Am I the only one who has never heard of McGregor Hall (other than through the RA coverage) and couldn’t really care less whether they knock it down or name it a world heritage site?

You’re not the only one who had never heard of it. When this issue was first covered by RA I caused considerable embarrassment to myself by thinking it was in Macgregor (west Belco) and berating the OP for spelling the name wrong. In the ensuing months I’ve become convinced that the demolition of the hall was the right decision, although I would have preferred a new, modern community facility built in its place rather than new student accommodation.

The demolition of McGregor Hall merely continues the process of urban renewal in the precinct. A few years ago the buildings housing PhotoAccess and other services were redeveloped and the generally rundown and forgotten area had new life breathed into it. Surely nobody would claim that the City West area isn’t a lot better now than when those asbestos-riddled humpies were there surrounded by weeds and rubbish.

In a young city like Canberra, heritage is something which has a broader context than in other places. Witness the attempt to put a heritage order on the ugly, concrete cancer riddled Cameron Offices which were built in 1974 and were an embarrassing eyesore and a blight on this city. But in this latest case the right decision was made to redevelop the area surrounding – and including – McGregor Hall. It’s called progress, and thank goodness commonsense won out in the end.