NORTH RAIL YARDS: Progress revealed for historic site’s transformation
Townsville’s North Rail Yards have sat dormant since 1990, but the wheels are turning behind the scenes to revitalise the prime location.
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- North Rail Yards to become Townsville Technology Precinct
- Hope for public spaces, shops and residential areas at rail yard
DESPITE a lack of visible progress, work is ramping up behind the scenes to transform Townsville’s historic disused North Rail Yards into a technology precinct.
Established in the 1880s, the historic railway workshops in Flinders Street West have remained vacant since 1997.
Purchased by Townsville City Council from the state government in 2013, a public tender process began in 2019 to find a private sector partner to redevelop the 4.5ha site fronting Ross Creek.
In August 2019, the council revealed that the heritage-listed site would be turned into the Townsville Technology Precinct, focused on the “emerging software development industry”.
The project was joint venture between Projects & Infrastructure Group and leading Queensland firm Conrad Gargett Architecture, with Townsville-based software company Code Valley named as the precinct’s anchor tenant.
Townsville mayor Jenny Hill said the site’s transformation into the Townsville Technology Precinct closely aligned with the council’s plan to attract the jobs of the future to the city.
“While work on the project was impacted by the COVID-19 global pandemic, it has recently ramped up again with options to refurbish some of the high-value heritage buildings and providing additional carparking and enhanced public access to Ross Creek currently being considered,” Cr Hill said.
“This is an exciting project which will not only support jobs but also revitalise Flinders Street West.”
The council confirmed a significant proportion of the historic buildings would be refurbished and retained including the Westinghouse Brake Shop and Gate House.
The founding principal of Sydney-based organisation Projects + Infrastructure, Robert Woolf, said the Townsville Technology Precinct was a company formed specifically for the project.
“We were engaged by the proponent Townsville Technology Precinct, to assist them develop the project through an initial phase, which is concluded at the end of last year,” Dr Woolf said.
“That phase included site investigations, engineering, architecture, and design, cost estimating feasibility and funding.
“The initial indications from this phase one exercise are positive, and the project looks like an exciting and viable one for the future.”
He said there was still a long way to go before construction could begin at the rail yards site.
“It all depends on the achievement of progress milestones outside of the project, they’re not necessarily part of the project,” he said.
When completed, the precinct was expected to deliver around 9500 sqm of new or fully refurbished space, becoming a dynamic urban renewal node for the CBD.
Originally published as NORTH RAIL YARDS: Progress revealed for historic site’s transformation
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