Anzac Oval redevelopment masterplan released: Art gallery shifts to carpark, reduced in size
The CLP government is pushing ahead with the Aboriginal Art gallery at Anzac Oval and it’s set to look a little different now, but opposition to the project still lingers. Find out why.
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A controversial art gallery planned for an iconic oval is going ahead – albeit reduced in size – with a new masterplan, which the opposition is calling “watered down” compared to their original plan.
On Thursday, the CLP government unveiled its new plan for Anzac Oval and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Gallery of Australia, with Minister for Lands, Planning and Environment Josh Burgoyne making the announcement in Alice Springs.
The new masterplan will see the gallery shifted onto the Wills Tce carpark, and downsized from a four storey building to three.
The gallery has also been reduced from 7000 sqm to 4000 sqm under the new masterplan, with a replacement car park to be built at the back of the oval to accommodate parking,
Sitzler would still build the gallery, Mr Burgoyne said, emphasising the project would stay within its $150 million budget.
Restoration works would see the oval facilities brought up to a “necessary standard” by February, so Anzac Oval facilities were “fit for purpose in time for (rugby) season next year”, Mr Burgoyne said.
Mr Burgoyne did not give a date on when the goalposts at the oval – removed in May under the Labor government – would be reinstalled.
“We are ensuring that this community asset is saved and we are delivering on the art gallery for Alice Springs,” Mr Burgoyne said.
The proposed location of the gallery has faced opposition from some traditional owners and Alice Springs community members, via advocacy group South of the Gap.
Previously, a site south of Heavitree Gap, in the Desert Knowledge Precinct, was identified by the South of the Gap traditional owners as a potential site for the gallery.
In a statement, South of the Gap called the master plan “the latest disappointing chapter in the ongoing saga” for the proposed galley.
The group again called to be consulted on the project, and will hold a community forum on December 5 to discuss the announcement.
“It is a huge shame that the same effort could not have been made in re-engaging with the senior Arrernte custodians who have been consistent in their position regarding their opposition to the project on this site,” the group’s statement said.
In September, Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro halted works on the site, and when the Alice Springs Town Council signed an MOU with the government in the beginning of November, Ms Finocchiaro put Treasurer Bill Yan “on notice” to begin consultation.
The government’s media release on the masterplan said the “government will be engaging with stakeholders over the coming weeks to inform them of the revised masterplan”.
Posting to Facebook, Gwoja MLA Chansey Paech called the master plan a “watered down” project and called for the federal government to reallocate the $80m in funding for it.
“This new plan will not attract international visitors and has excluded Aboriginal voices in its redesign. They have effectively undermined this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Mr Paech said.
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