Prospect CLIC will ‘connect the council to its people’, architects say
THE new Prospect library and community centre will be smart, creative and “connect the council to its people”, its architects say.
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THE new Prospect Community Library and Innovation Centre will be a smart and creative “window into Prospect” that will “connect the council to its people”, its architects say.
JPE Design architects presented their vision for the new building on Prospect Rd at a council workshop last week after being appointed to lead the $12 million project earlier this month.
The council plans to demolish its existing civic centre at 128 Prospect Rd and build a new office building, library and community centre on the same site using money from the sale of the historic Johns Rd tram barn and land at 132–134 Prospect Rd.
The council’s Thomas St library and community centre is due to be taken over by Nailsworth Primary School in 2019.
Lead architect Tom Vinall told the workshop the building should be “a place for everyone” and a “place to meet, think and learn”.
It would “connect the council to its people”, he said.
Debate at the workshop centred around how best to connect the new building with the 1895 town hall next door and whether the second level of a new carpark should be built underground or as a second-storey deck.
Mayor David O’Loughlin estimated going underground would cost about $1 million more, which would have to come out of other council projects, such as a Broadview Oval upgrade.
“If I’m going to endorse an extra cent on this, I don’t want to spend it on a carpark,” Mr O’Loughlin said.
Councillors agreed the new library should be contained to the ground floor of the new building.
JPE will present more ideas to the CLIC community reference group tonight.
Staff will relocate to the Prospect Town Hall, the Thomas Street Centre in Nailsworth and the Walkerville Council depot while construction is underway next year.
Expressions of interest will go out for the tram barn next month.
Councillors voted at a meeting last night that the barn’s new owner keep it for “community use or benefit”.