$12m Blackwood community hub approved, to break ground later this year and create 100 full-time jobs

Final plans for Blackwood’s controversial $12m community hub and library have been ticked off. Here’s what it will have – and how it will look.

A $12m community hub in Blackwood has been given the final stamp of approval and is expected to create up to 100 jobs during construction.

Mitcham Council has endorsed revised concept plans for the controversial Blackwood Community Hub on Young Street, with the development scheduled to break ground in November.

The proposed two-storey building will feature a public library and information desk on the ground floor, community facilities on the first floor, and north and south entries that open to the adjacent reserve.

Dedicated children’s and youth areas, a toy library, a maker-space, gallery, and multiple meeting and event rooms will also be included.

An artist impression of the long-awaited $12m Blackwood Hub. Supplied: Mitcham Council.

The new concept designs show the $12m proposal, and are on a smaller scale to the $20m plan that was dumped. Supplied: Mitcham Council.

The proposal has created controversy since it first announced in 2018.

Councillors were divided by the $20m price tag, which was later slashed to $12m during a long and emotional debate.

City of Mitcham Mayor Dr Heather Holmes-Ross said the hub would provide an economic boost to the region, creating 100 full-time positions during construction.

She said sod turning was scheduled for November, which included demolishing the existing community centre.

It is anticipated construction will be completed by May 2023.

“The idea to not only create something spectacular for the community but we believe that the centre will reinvigorate the Blackwood precinct and help bring people into the area,” Dr Holmes-Ross said.

“So the positioning of the library is actually quite strategic and will act as a catalyst for what we’re trying to achieve.”

Artist impression of the final concept designs of the $12m Blackwood Hub. Supplied: Mitcham Council.

How the $12m Blackwood Hub will look when finished. Supplied: Mitcham Council.

Dr Holmes-Ross said the development was supported by all levels of government.

Earlier this month, the state government announced a $3.5m funding boost towards the project, while an additional $5m has been committed by the Federal Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications.

“This (project) has been looking for funding for 40 years … so it’s the biggest project Mitcham has ever done,” Dr Holmes-Ross said.

The old, $20m design for the Blackwood Community Hub, which was dumped.

The old, $20m design for the Blackwood Community Hub, which was dumped.

“The library complex in Mitcham with the Brownhill Creek expansion, that was a $10m project, but this build will be $12m and we will, at some point, spend at least another $2m doing the Waite Street Reserve, so it’s by far the biggest.”

The development has been the cause of much controversy over the past 12 months.

In November last year, a councillor was reduced to tears while another stormed out of the Mitcham Council chamber when it was decided to reduce project costs by $8m.

The owners of Blackwood-based Karkoo Nursery have also been outspoken opponents of the development after council announced plans to sell the Main Road premise to help fund the hub.