Festival Plaza overhaul to include art gallery as part of plan to make Adelaide world class cultural hub

ADELAIDE is closer to becoming a “world-class cultural hub” with the State Government revealing further details of the Festival Plaza overhaul. See the plans.

• Festival Plaza development: Green light for $610m revamp
• Premier Jay Weatherill unveils Festival Plaza redevelopment plan

ADELAIDE is closer to becoming a “world-class cultural hub” with the State Government confirming it will investigate building an art gallery and revealing further details of the Festival Plaza overhaul.

Premier Jay Weatherill on Friday said details on a plan for an art gallery would be released as part of next month’s State Budget.

The Advertiser understands hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding has been allocated to a scoping study which will investigate whether a new gallery would be commercially viable.

It comes as Infrastructure Minister Stephen Mullighan released new images of the walkway along the riverbank which will become a seamless “promenade” on the south side from the footbridge to King William St.

The current path would be widened and include a Hollywood-style Walk of Fame which should be accessible to the public by the third quarter next year as part of the first stage of works on the Festival Plaza project.

Last week, The Advertiser revealed there were strong arguments being made within State Cabinet for a contemporary art gallery but the “lively” debate centred on whether it should be located at the old Royal Adelaide Hospital site or on the Torrens riverbank near the new hospital.

TAKING SHAPE: A new artist impression of the Walk of Fame, which is part of the Festival Plaza upgrade, with the office tower and casino upgrade in the background.

But some within Cabinet, understood to include Treasurer Tom Koutsantonis and Deputy Premier John Rau, were not convinced of the business case for another gallery and hesitant to commit the $250 million likely needed to build it.

Mr Weatherill would not reveal his preferred location for a new gallery. It is understood the scoping study would investigate the best location.

“I think these (questions about location) are some of the questions we need to answer first,” Mr Weatherill said at the SA Press Club on Friday.

“Rather than starting with the building I think you need to start with a cultural vision for the state and then think about some of the other questions.

“It’s a very exciting idea and I think you’ll hear more about it in the State Budget. I think there is a case for another cultural institution in SA.”

Mr Mullighan said that the promenade would signific

antly improve access into Elder Park and make the Festival Centre more accessible from the riverbank.

“The Adelaide Festival Plaza is set to become a unique world-class hub for arts, culture,

tourism and entertainment, and developing accessible and public spaces, such as the Northern Promenade, will be vital to achieving this,” he said.

Festival Plaza transformation

“The design will target the separation of vehicle and pedestrian movements, improving safety and the function of the site while remaining sensitive to the existing cultural and heritage elements of the location.

“While there will be some disruptions during construction, we will make every effort to minimise the impacts on the general public as much as possible while we building what promises to be one of the Adelaide’s landmark sites and a focal point for our increasingly vibrant city.”