Cost surge in Darwin culture centre project

Developers of a Darwin major project expect tender contracts to be signed soon so work can begin. Read what’s planned.

The developer of an Indigenous cultural centre in Darwin has defended delays in starting work on the contract more than a year after the proposed site was cleared.

Larrakia Development Corporation chief executive Nigel Browne said the organisation had advertised a number of tenders over the past 12 months, although these are yet to be finalised.

LDC is working with Darwin-based Rossi Architects and Susan Dugdale and Associates in Alice Springs on designs for the project, which is being funded with a $56m grant from the Aboriginal Benefits Account.

The project has been behind a hoarding at its Stokes Hill Wharf site since the old Indo-Pacific Marine building was demolished in January 2023 and is one of a number of proposed Northern Territory major projects that have failed to materialise.

How the Larrakia Cultural Centre will look.

Mr Browne also said the project has incurred a cost blowout due to delays.

“The Larrakia Development Corporation has continued progressing the development of the Larrakia Cultural Centre since the completion of demolition,” Mr Browne said.

“The project has had a number of tenders advertised in the last 12 months, including construction, the artworks program and the multi-media contract.

“These tenders are a part of the various activities that the LDC project team are undertaking in order to continue progressing the Larrakia Cultural Centre.

“LDC is currently undertaking negotiations with the preferred tenderer, depending on the outcomes of the negotiations an announcement will be made this month.”

First flagged in 2017, the project is intended to include educational facilities, an exhibition space and gallery, an outdoor auditorium, cafe-restaurant, art studios, artefact storage, a retail shop and function rooms for meetings and events.

Larrakia Development Corporation chair Mark Motlop and Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney at the Larrakia Cultural Centre construction site. Picture: Supplied

It is intended to provide a celebration of Larrakia history, culture, places, language and families in Darwin.”

The delays have come with a 10 per cent blowout to the total project cost.

“One of the items which LDC has been managing is the ongoing cost of construction caused by an increase in costs of materials and the shortage of trades people in the NT,” Mr Browne said.

“The Larrakia Development Corporation and its design consultant have been working with a local cost estimator to manage the above mentioned impacts on the overall project costs.

The current cost to build has been impacted by a 10 per cent increase since 2022.”

Darwin Major Business Group last month released a report examining the strengths and weaknesses of the Territory economy, including a reference to the need to manage major projects.

It listed three urban renewal projects, of which only the $88m Northern Territory art gallery is underway.

Substantive work is yet to commence on the cultural centre and $150m National Aboriginal Art Gallery in Alice Springs.