Darwin’s existing civic centre does not meet building regulations, council says, citing blocked toilets and dying aircons

City of Darwin says Darwin’s existing civic centre does not meet building regulations or modern standards with the Mayor citing ‘blocked toilets’ and ‘dying air conditioners’ as key reasons behind a push for a new $150m building.

City of Darwin CEO Simone Saunders with Lord Mayor Kon Vatskalis. Picture: Alex Treacy

City of Darwin says Darwin’s existing civic centre does not meet building regulations or modern standards with the Mayor citing “blocked toilets” and “dying air conditioners” as key reasons behind a push for a new $150m building.

On Tuesday, Darwin Lord Mayor Kon Vatskalis told a public forum there was “too much misinformation” surrounding the new $150m civic centre development and suggested complaints about the proposed centre were unjustified.

At the forum, he said frequently “blocked toilets” and “dying air conditioners” were two of the biggest reasons behind the development – which council said would be funded through existing reserves and borrowings.

Darwin Lord Mayor Kon Vatskalis. Picture: Alex Treacy

In a Facebook post, Mr Vatskalis claimed council had paid more than $1m per year to maintain the current centre and insisted the joint-venture development was worth the $77m.

“For the new building, $40m will come from the developers parking levy … council will borrow $30m; this has been assessed and approved by the NT Government because we are in a sound financial position”, he said.

“I am still amazed that people will comment on something without getting the whole story or even making the effort to do some basic research on the subject.”

City of Darwin’s current civic centre. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

A spokesman for City of Darwin told this masthead the existing civic centre did not meet building regulations, and that ongoing repair costs would be too extreme.

“The existing civic centre building does not meet current building regulations and modern standards including for accessibility, earthquakes and tropical cyclones”, the spokesman said.

“The cost to bring the building up to current standards is prohibitive and would not return good value for our ratepayers in the long term.

Proposed Darwin Civic Centre. Picture: City of Darwin

The spokesman said the City of Darwin was committed to the health, safety and wellbeing of the community.

“We are also committed to providing the community with improved facilities, including a larger library with an expanded footprint, meeting rooms and function spaces that can be booked by the community and an improved customer service centre,” the spokesman said.

Current Darwin Civic Centre. Picture: Country Solar NT

“Once complete, the area around the new civic centre will feature a cool, green community plaza connecting the new building with civic park, creating a place where people can visit, connect with others and engage in community and business activities and events.”

The 20-storey structure will be built in the existing chamber’s carpark, with the old building set to remain operational until its replacement has opened.

City of Darwin council faced strong criticism from hundreds of residents after it voted in support of the project, this masthead reported in January, with locals expressing concerns regarding the decision-making process behind the project.