‘We can’t lose our history’: Police station sale sparks discussion over future of Gordonvale town square

Claims a historic building was sold from under the noses of a Far North community group have been rebuffed by Labor, with calls to rejuvenate a beloved town square emerging as a key election issue.

The Old Gordonvale Police Station, located near Norman Park, closed in 2018 and has been sitting dormant for several years.

Claims that a historic building was sold from under the noses of a Far North community group have been rebuffed by the Labor Party, with calls to rejuvenate a beloved town square now emerging as a key state election issue.

Built in 1911, the old Gordonvale Court House has long been considered as a future home for the Mulgrave Settlers’ Museum, currently located opposite the town’s sugar mill.

The Mulgrave Settlers Museum in Gordonvale.

The previously state government-owned site, which served as the community’s police station for almost three decades before closing in 2018, has sat dormant for more than six years.

But news of the asset’s sale to the Dulabed Malanbarra Yidinji Aboriginal Corporation for an undisclosed sum earlier this month prompted outcry, with the museum’s current lease set to expire in 2026.

Terry James LNP candidate for Mulgrave says the community should have received greater consultation prior to the old Gordonvale Police Station’s sale recently. Picture: Liam Kidston.

LNP candidate for Mulgrave Terry James accused outgoing MP Curtis Pitt of selling off the property just prior to the state election.

“The Mulgrave Historical Society has got nowhere to go now and they’ll be looking down the barrel of closing,” Mr James said.

“They found out about this at 12 minutes to midnight that it’s been sold just prior to entering caretaker mode.”

Retiring Member for Mulgrave Curtis Pitt wrote to Cairns Regional Council about the Mulgrave Settlers Museum in February, 2022. Picture: Brendan Radke.

It’s understood that an extensive search was undertaken to identify a potential new occupant, with the Gordonvale RSL, Mission Australia and Gurriny Yealamucka Health Health Service approached in recent years.

In July 2020, Mr James, then Cairns Regional Council’s deputy mayor, toured the old police station with a view to the council leasing the land to accommodate the town’s museum.

But the deal fell through, in part due to the prohibitive cost to restore the building.

“They offered us a shorter lease and the building needed more than $500,000 to be spent on it,” Mr James said.

“The council pulled back then. Curtis will say that the council just didn’t want it but it came down to the short lease and the substantial amount of work that needed to be done.”

In a letter obtained exclusively by the Cairns Post, Mr Pitt wrote to former mayor Bob Manning in early 2022, expressing his “disappointment” that the council had not consulted with him prior to turning down the offer.

Mr Pitt said “opportunities to secure funding for refurbishment” could have been explored, if he had been consulted.

“Considerable effort and expense has been undertaken by the Queensland Government to facilitate council’s interest in retaining the former Gordonvale Police Station for community use and subsequent purchase of surrounding land parcels, inclusive of land surveys and title amendments,” Mr Pitt wrote.

ALP candidate for Mulgrave Richie Bates has called for a master plan to help revive Gordonvale's historic town square. Picture: Samuel Davis

The ALP’s candidate for Mulgrave Richie Bates said the debate presented an opportunity to create a master plan for the town precinct and Norman Park.

“This is a beautiful old quadrant with an old railway station and a working mill nearby,” Mr Bates said.

“Let’s have a plan, consult with the community and find out what they want to do with it.”

Making the heart of Gordonvale more accessible for the elderly and disabled had been raised as a concern by voters, Mr Bates said.

“That’s the first thing you do nowadays when you look at making a space more user friendly,” he said.

“Is it walkable, is it alternative transport friendly? That’s what activates shops and businesses.”

Gordonvale Community Action Group’s president Susan Byrne-Callaghan said that while she would have preferred to have seen the building remain a state asset, the site wasn’t suitable for a museum.

“In retrospect, it’s probably not fit for purpose due to the fact that it’s an older, wooden building,” Ms Byrne-Callaghan said.

But with the museum’s lease set to expire soon, a new site is still desperately needed.

“It needs to find a new home soon, so it is an urgent issue,” she said.

“We can’t lose our history.”

Originally published as ‘We can’t lose our history’: Police station sale sparks discussion over future of Gordonvale town square