Daniel Wills: Safe bet on old RAH development should appease most

AFTER years of waiting and wondering, the State Government has delivered a spectacularly safe plan to rejuvenate the most prime piece of real estate that Adelaide has to offer.

• How The Advertiser broke the story
• 15 years before old RAH is new again

AFTER years of waiting and wondering, the State Government has delivered a spectacularly safe plan to rejuvenate the most prime piece of real estate that Adelaide has to offer.

There is a bit in this for everyone, and little to ignite angry protests along North Tce.

The parklands coterie has won a huge concession as about a third of the existing hospital site is handed over to the Botanic Gardens, and heritage-listed buildings on North Tce will be retained for a “culture and tourism quarter” that’ll please gallery-goers and history buffs.

Land-locked universities have been given the promise of a new building to house “innovation”, and aged care and affordable housing are to be included in new apartment developments.

There is likely to be some grizzling about any commercial activity in a development on public land, but the parklands and heritage protections will go a long way to calming those complaints.

This seems a plan designed to navigate the often tortured politics that have plagued major Adelaide developments from the Le Cornu site to Adelaide Oval and even the new hospital.

Critics will note that, after almost a decade of discussion and a design competition that threw up ideas for everything from things that looked like a rebooted Magic Mountain or relocated Kuitpo Forest, the latest plan lacks a standout landmark that will distinguish the site as truly unique.

The same can't be said of recent developments along the Riverbank, where Adelaide Oval has become the standard against which new stadiums around the country are graded, and the SAHMRI “cheese grater” building carves itself into the memories of all who see it.

Both were controversial in the concept phase, and only broadly welcomed when built and seen.

It remains possible something more explosive will come in the detailed design phase.

Premier Jay Weatherill has left wide open the chance of a new landmark art gallery, and the exact form of buildings sketched out on Sunday will likely change as the masterplan is refined.

With 18 months to the next election, little more than demolition will be underway at the site when voters go to the polls.

In that time, a Labor government that has based its successes on building big infrastructure has plenty of time to announce more detailed or even changed visions for this key city block once public reaction to a modest starting point begin to roll in.