Old funeral business building to be transformed in Gympie’s new disaster co-ordination centre

The Gympie CBD site will be extensively renovated to become the region’s dedicated disaster management co-ordination centre.

A 2013 aerial flood photo of Gympie. The region’s new dedicated disaster management co-ordination centre will be relocated to the community services building at 24 Mellor Street once its $500,000 renovation has been completed. Photo Craig Warhurst / The Gympie Times

Gympie Regional Council will spend at least $500,000 turning what was once a funeral business into its new disaster co-ordination centre.

The building between the Gympie Library and Civic Centre, at 24 Mellor St, is used for community services, but turning it into the city’s dedicated disaster management co-ordination centre means it will be right beside the city’s disaster evacuation centre (the Civic Centre).

The council has just been granted the $500,000 through the Commonwealth and Queensland Government’s $19 million Queensland Resilience and Risk Reduction Fund.

“While the project details are still being finalised, some of the works are expected to include structural improvements, such a reconfiguration of the internal walls to make the space more functional during a disaster, as well as technological improvements to support a variety of new technologies,” a council spokesman said on Thursday.

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“Moving the disaster management coordination centre to the Mellor Street location means that it will be closer to the Civic Centre, which is a disaster evacuation centre.”