Crews begin demolishing historic Shed 26 in Port Adelaide
A historic sawtooth building that has been a part of Port Adelaide since the 1950s has been demolished. See the exclusive pictures and follow rolling updates here.
West & Beaches
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Shed 26 in Port Adelaide has been demolished.
Three excavators arrived on the site this morning to demolish the historic structure, with works beginning before 8.30am today.
The last pieces of the shed were torn down just after 11am.
It follows months of protests and attempts to save the old boatshed after it was removed from the heritage list by the State Government.
It will make way for a $160 million housing project by developer Cedar Woods.
Paul Johnston, 69, of Callington, was in the area when he heard the shed was being torn down and came to see it for himself.
He described it as “the destruction of a lot of history”.
“It’s a sad day ... for history as far as South Australia is concerned,” he said.
“There’s so much work and effort that’s gone into building that...so much time and occasions and experiences that have occurred over (the) years.”
Mr Johnston said more should have been done to preserve the shed.
Local campaigners lost their last bid to save Shed 26 last month.
Tony Kearney and Emma Webb, who spearheaded the campaign to save the shed, this morning watched the destruction from afar at Fokelore Cafe, on the other side of the river.
Both said they were too emotional to comment on the situation.
A meeting brokered with Cedar Woods and the State Government by Port Adelaide Enfield Council failed to produce any change in the developer’s intention to knock over the shed on the banks of the Port River for a housing development.
Rose Ashton, 66, of Callington, agreed, saying historic sites should be retained.
“They make us feel good to look at them,” she said
“(We’re) reminded of who we are and where we’ve come from.”
Birkenhead resident Paul, who did not wish to give his surname, used to work in the shed and said he was “impartial” to it’s demolition.
“They could have done some nice stuff with it (but I don’t know how you can force someone to do that though,” he said.
Infrastructure Minister Stephan Knoll did not believe the removal of Shed 26 marked a sad day for the Port.
“The development at Port Adelaide will help reinvigorate the Port, attract more people to come and live in the area and create hundreds of jobs,” Mr Knoll said.
Labor MP for Port Adelaide Susan Close described the demolition as the “passing of an icon of our working port”.
“Unfortunately this government’s lack of interest in the Port, and its desire to make money from heritage items but not invest in them, has seen the demise of one of the last remaining links to Port Adelaide as a working port,” Ms Close said.
Renewal SA chief executive Mark Devine, Cedar Woods project director Mark Pivovaroff, Port Adelaide Enfield chief executive Mark Withers and Mayor Claire Boan were at the meeting.
Supporters of retaining the 1950s shed believed it was the final opportunity to save the building with destruction of the structure expected to begin in the next few weeks.
The developer had so far only removed asbestos roof panelling.
The council said it had been told by Cedar Woods it would still require $8 million of public funds to remediate the building if it were to be repurposed.
Mrs Boan said the council “did the best” it could to save the shed but the developer was unwilling to budge.
“It was a full and frank discussion, and we talked about the real costs of the various different options for adaptive re-use of the existing structure that had been considered, including community use, housing, retail and commercial development of the area,” Mrs Boan said.
Ms Webb said the result was “very disappointing”.
“It feels definitely that Cedar Woods are not listening to the community or the City of Port Adelaide Enfield and we don’t feel they’ve ever had any intention other than to take the shed down,” Ms Webb said.
“We feel the council have been taken for a ride in the same way the rest of the community have.”
She had organised a meeting with Treasurer Rob Lucas on Thursday morning to discuss the future of the shed.
“Only the State Government can save the shed now,” she said last month.
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