Proposal threatens future of Queensland’s historic Boggo Road gaol

A VALUABLE part of Queensland history is at risk of being permanently lost to an airconditioning unit, in a plan now before Brisbane City Council.

Boggo Road Gaol opened in 1883 but historic cells are now set to be turned into service rooms.

A VALUABLE part of Queensland history is at risk of being permanently lost to an airconditioning unit, in a plan now before Brisbane City Council.

The cells of the old Boggo Road Gaol, which tell the story of more than a century of the state’s social history, are set to be destroyed to make way for electrical services to turn the buildings into function space.

Large areas of the building’s time-worn fabric, handmade by prisoners, are to be removed in a refurbishment, and the rawness of the gaol, created over a century, will be made neat and sterilised.

Jack Sim adn the Victorian-era cell blocks which will be lost to Queensland’s social history. Picture: Chris McCormack.

Under the current proposal, the top floor of two of the Victorian-era cell blocks, each with 14 cells, will be destroyed, with walls between the cells removed.

“Basically, we lose cells for ancillary equipment that is likely to be replaced some time in the future, but those cells and their stories are irreplaceable,” Boggo Road Gaol director and horror historian Jack Sim said.

“Nobody would say ‘let’s take out a floor’ of the Hyde Park Barracks in Sydney, Port Arthur, or the Old Melbourne Gaol to put in modern facilities. They would find another place to pump aircon. In 2016, if you want to be a smart state, you apply clever conservation.”

A reception room where female prisoners arrived to be bathed and get uniforms will be turned into a public toilet.

Notoriety is only a small part of the gaol’s story. It also reflects the state’s history, from the women of the early 1900s who committed minor crimes to feed their children, and indigenous people being locked up under vagrancy laws, through to Springbok protesters in the early ’70s and SEQEB workers protesting against the Bjelke-Petersen government.

“The story of the people of Queensland can be told through Boggo Road. It’s not all nice and pleasant history but this has to be one of the most dramatic locations in Australian to tell the story of its society and early prisons,” Mr Sim said.

“The main thing visitors want to see is the cells and cell blocks but this new development as it stands will have a significant impact on that.”

The old gaol was originally a women’s prison but the “wo” was later removed from the sign.

Mr Sim said one cell block would be retained as-is but the proposed development took away the practical aspects of being able to move tour groups through the jail, access for school groups, disabled and seniors and visitor parking.

“My vision for the gaol is not just another heritage place in Brisbane, but this could be our city and our state’s major tourist attraction,” he said.

“There is always talk of Brisbane needing iconic buildings. We already have that and it belongs to the people of Queensland. Boggo Road and Pentridge were arguably the two most notorious jails in the country in the 20th century.”

Mr Sim said the three original cells were in remarkably good condition for their age and didn’t owe anybody anything.

The old gaol is one of the most signficiant prisons in Australia.

“They are the last of their type. For 86 years they kept some of the most monstrous criminals under lock and key and protected the community and now these graceful old ladies are to be gutted when they should be quietly retired,” he said.

Mr Sim said he was not opposed to the whole development but it was intruding and the balance was not right.

“The markets building is a good idea and the area needs rejuvenation, but don’t alter the cellblocks; retain them as they are,” he said.

Queenslanders are being urged to have their say on the development application.

A great escape at Boggo Road Gaol. See brismania.com