Sandy Verschoor: A radical plan to help Adelaide recover from the pandemic

Adelaide needs to be bold and brave in its response to the Covid-19 pandemic, and Lord Mayor Sandy Verschoor has an out-of-the-box idea to help increase the city’s capacity.

As we stare down the barrel of our third year of the pandemic, it is clear Covid-19 is not going away any time soon.

We need to seek out fresh opportunities, take bold steps to shake up the status quo and be brave in our decision making.

As a capital city, we need to be innovative, creative and embrace the opportunities of the future, while honouring all that makes our city the most liveable in Australia.

We have so much to be proud of and so much to look forward to.

There is no doubt it has been a challenging start to the year for our city and Adelaide City Council is working with the state government to support businesses with cash grants and incentives to encourage more people to return to the city.

This includes lunch and dinner vouchers, free parking and public transport on weekends during the festival season.

A festival atmosphere with live music and outdoor dining for ­hospitality businesses to spill on to the streets will be created across all parts of the city as part of Adelaide Unleashed.

Culturally, Adelaide has always punched above its weight.

We are a city of world-renowned artists, makers and festivals and we must explore any opportunities to enable our creative industries to flourish.

Adelaide needs an outdoor ampitheatre like Melbourne’s Sidney Myer Music Bowl. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Daniel Pockett

They have proved themselves to be endlessly adaptable and entrepreneurial. We need them now more than ever.

We are an UNESCO City of Music, and it is devastating to see our live-music industry hanging by a thread.

Let’s embrace and truly demonstrate what it means to be a City of Music.

We have doubled our investment in Friday Night Live and we need more outdoor amphitheatres, more plug ‘n’ play spaces, music on balconies, rooftops, carparks, more free rehearsal spaces, music markets and recording studios.

We could have gig nights at the Town Hall, more music on the streets, song commissions and competitions.

And a concert hall.

Other great festival cities like Montreal close off their streets for months.

Please, Premier Steven Marshall, we need a centre for fine music and education.

And, while we’re at it, let’s rethink our city spaces.

Our food and wine offering is exceptional.

ACC has created new outdoor dining areas for businesses and, to give a boost to events and festivals, we won’t charge fees to host events for 12 months.

But what if we took it one step further?

What if, similar to other festival cities like Montreal, we closed some of our streets for extended periods of time – say, a month or three?

Or reduced some streets to one way in the evenings and let the retail, restaurants and bars spill out onto the street?

This would create so much more outdoor space for social distancing and increased capacity.

Plus, it would add to the unique experience of being in the city.

We could have our own version of New York’s High Line, an elevated linear park, greenway and rail trail. Picture: Istock

And, while we rethink city spaces, how can we reimagine the iconic 760ha that are the Adelaide Parklands and return alienated or degraded land for the community to enjoy?

Imagine, for instance, plug ‘n’ play spaces in our parks and gardens, musical nature play and public art.

Or even an Adelaide version of New York’s High Line stretching over the River Torrens or the rail corridor.

It would celebrate our iconic ­national park status and be a drawcard for tourists.

There are so many big ideas and opportunities we need to explore – collaboratively, with our residents, businesses and property owners – to find new ways to bring our city to life.

All around me I see opportunity.

Adelaide is on the cusp of its next chapter and we will enter the next phase of the city’s future with bold thinking, vision and leadership, so we can truly be a great city – designed for life.

Sandy Verschoor is Adelaide City Council Lord Mayor.

*THIS IS THE personal opinion of LORD MAYOR VERSCHOOR.