$1.5m has been spent restoring the iconic stack at the Brickworks site — now its hope new business will move in
ONE-and-a-half-million dollars has been spent restoring an iconic, chimney stack that’s loomed large in Adelaide’s west for more than 100 years. Now what – a brewery perhaps?
- How do you restore 42m-tall, 100-year-old Brickworks chimney?
- Inside new $65m shopping precinct at old Brickworks Markets site
- Woolworths starts tearing down part of the Brickworks Market site
- Council wants better deal for Brickworks land sale
- Kicked out of Brickworks Market site, now they’re back trading
PARTNERING with a private developer to build a cinema, restaurant or microbrewery would be the best outcome for the Brickworkers kiln site, a West Torrens councillor says.
The council has now completed a $1.5m restoration of the 1912 heritage kiln after attempting to find the right buyer for the 1.8ha site for about three years.
Keswick councillor John Woodward is putting forward a motion to create a master plan detailing his proposal, which would also be subject to community consultation if passed, at Tuesday’s council meeting.
He said the purpose of the plan was to find better options than apartment or office blocks.
“With a residential development going in at the Wiggs site and the sale of the Coke factory, which is also likely to be housing, it’s important to have something there that fits into the community,” Cr Woodward this week told the Westside Weekly.
“The idea is to gauge the opinion of the community and the current Brickworks traders to develop a master plan.”
Cr Woodward said he was keen to see a public-private partnership because it would give the council more input into the use of the land.
“If it’s sold as a vacant block we wouldn’t have an input,” he said.
West Torrens sold a 4.8ha site next to the Brickworks traders’ shed to Woolworths in 2013 for an undisclosed amount.
The 40-plus shops at the new centre officially opened in 2015 following a $65 million facelift.
Timeline
October 2013 — WEST Torrens sold a 4.8ha site next to the Brickworks traders’ shed and heritage kiln to Woolworths for an undisclosed amount. Brickworks Market traders were told to vacate the traders’ hall to make way for the Woolworths development.
April 2014 — WORK began on the Woolworths centre at the old Brickworks Market site.
January 2015 — WEST Torrens Council rejected three offers to buy the remaining portion of the former Brickworks Markets, including the state heritage-listed kiln, due to suitability and price concerns.
June 2015 — NEW $65 million centre including 40-plus shops opens.
November 2016 — A $1.5 MILLION West Torrens Council project to restore the 1912 Hoffman heritage kiln got underway.
May 2017 — RESTORATION works of the kiln completed. West Torrens councillor John Woodward puts forward a motion requesting a master plan for the remaining portion of the Brickworks site.