Brisbane City Council orders Broadway Hotel owner to stabilise historic hotel by April

The owner of a historic hotel ravaged by fire has been ordered to stabilise the heritage-listed building after claims it could not be restored due to poor structural integrity were found to be false.

THE owner of a historic hotel ravaged by fire has been ordered to stabilise it after claims it could not be restored due to poor structural integrity were found to be false.

City Planning chairman Matthew Bourke said Brisbane City Council today issued an enforcement notice to the owner of the Broadway Hotel.

GRAND OLD HOTEL AT RISK

COUNCIL VS STATE ON HERITAGE HOTEL

He said the notice demanded stabilisation work on the building be undertaken by April 30, 2019, to “secure the building and prevent further dilapidation”.

“The requirements outlined in the Enforcement Notice were to secure the building on the premises by installing a series of support systems to the building in accordance with the proposed propping design and methodology within the further engineering report,” he said.

The Broadway Hotel at Woolloongabba. Picture: AAP/Richard Walker

The Broadway Hotel has been ravaged by fires three time, in July 2010, October 2017 and September 2018.

Late last year photos emerged of thousands of litres of water which had flooded its basement level.

Cr Bourke said the council’s order came after a State Government engineering report confirmed it was safe to carry out building work on the hotel.

“The owner previously responded to a Council Show Cause Notice claiming that any restoration of the Broadway Hotel would be inhibited by its poor structural integrity,” he said.

“Council refused to accept at face value the claims that suggested it could not be restored.”

He said the council requested an urgent meeting with the State Government to verify the owner’s claim.

A photo showing the flooded basement level of the Broadway Hotel. Picture: Supplied

Cr Bourke said the State Government met with the building owner to inspect the premises and a subsequent engineering report has detailed how stabilisation work can be done safely.

He said the council would continue to work closely with the State Government and the building owner to “ensure the state heritage-listed building is restored to its pre-fire condition”.

Deputy Premier and Member for South Brisbane Jackie Trad said her community was “sick of seeing our beautiful heritage buildings destroyed”.

“It is good to see that today BCC have finally stepped in and taken the enforcement action we have been calling on them to take for several months to secure and stabilise the site,” she said.

“Our government will continue to work with BCC and the owner of the site on a solution that will restore the Broadway to its former glory for the benefit of our whole community.”

Cr Jonathan Sri (The Gabba) said he was “very pleased” to hear the State Government report confirmed that the building can be repaired.

He said the State Government and Brisbane City Council should develop a plan to buy the site and develop it.

Cr Jonathan Sri outside the Broadway Hotel. Picture: AAP/Richard Walker

“If it’s left up to the private sector, it’s likely it will just be left to rot,” he said.

“I really think there’s an opportunity there to convert it into a community facility and the space next to it into a public park,” he said.

“With all the high rises going up we need more libraries and community centres and parks in the neighbourhood.”

A petition for the council to buy the site and restore the building for a community space was knocked back earlier this month.

The Department of Environment and Science said its site inspection by a structural engineer and expert contractors found the building was structurally stable and capable of repair.

It said the council’s enforcement notice would require the owner to secure the building in accordance with the engineering report.