Phive confirmed as final name for 5 Parramatta Square

Residents and leaders have made last-minute pleas to overturn the controversial name bestowed upon Parramatta Council’s new $130 million cultural building.

Opponents who objected to the name Phive for the 5 Parramatta Square building have been unsuccessful in their efforts to persuade the the council to reconsider the title for the hub that will house a library and performances spaces.

Liberal councillor and former Lord Mayor Bob Dwyer was so embarrasssed by the name, which combines Parramatta and hive, that he submitted a recission motion after the October 11 meeting when the building, formerly dubbed the starship enterprise, was given the title.

He argued it shoud be called Civic, a more appropriate and less confusing title for a government building and later suggested a public name competition should be held for Parramatta’s 230,000 residents.

Opponents argue Phive is no name for a government building.

“You could be going to the frigging hairdresser, you could be going to the delicatessen. It could be anywhere,’’ he said last week.

“There’s no word in the dictionary for Phive. It’s got nothing to do with local government.”

At a Parramatta Council meeting this week, North Rocks resident Darryn Capes-Davis urged the chamber to consider more creative names including Houison, after prominent colonial Parramatta architect James Houison, who designed buildings such as Parramatta jail and All Saint’s Anglican Cathedral, and mirrung, the Dharug word for belonging.

The title would be “a very suitable name for bringing all people, including the first nations, to the heart of Parramatta,’’ Capes-Davis said.

“There is no sign of any cultural research applied to find a name of any Aboriginal heritage or language nor a call to request feedback to the community as to what they find inspirational,’’ Mr Capes-Davis said.

“It would seem that all the consultants have done is to make a poor name to look good ...’’

Despite the names Civic and Civic Place being shunned after online community consultation, Cr Dwyer said the council failed to engage in adequate consultation via post, and anecdotal feedback he received suggested Phive was unpopular and baffling.

“Essentially, I just believe the majority of people — 230,000 — haven’t had a chance to be consulted on it,’’ he said.

“We’ve got the Facebook warriors and Twitter ninjas who have only responded. I think we’ve got to get out in the real world.’’

External consultants short-listed the names Phive, Civic and Prisma (a combination of prism and Parramatta) after the public’s overwhelming negative comments about Civic Place, which drew 273 rejections and 327 opposed The Civic.

Fellow Liberals Martin Zaiter and Andrew Jefferies backed the plan to dump Phive, which derives its name from being a hive of activity and combines Parramatta and hive.

Parramatta councillor Bob Dwyer detests the name Phive but lost his bid to rename it. Picture: Angelo Velardo

Labor’s Donna Davis has supported the name Phive and argued Civic was “stale and unoriginal”.

“It will have thousands of people walk through its doors on a weekly basis to actually consider it to be a hive, a community centre, a place where will people will come like bees to a honey pot in the middle of our city, to connect that Parramatta and that hive is so clever,’’ Cr Davis said.

She said the community had the chance to provide feedback via the Participate Parramatta online portal “so councillor Dwyer’s suggestion that this was limited to social media discussion is a falsehood”.

Parramatta Councillor Donna Davis supports the name Phive. Picture: John Appleyard

“It was the overwhelmingly negative councillor and community sentiment to The Civic and Civic Place that spurred the idea to engage consultants,” Cr Davis said.

“Councillor Dwyer likes Civic because it reminds him of a bygone era when Parramatta Square was Civic Place.

“Civic Place was demolished to make way for a more vibrant, buzzing, hive of activity at the Phive.’’

The six-storey Manuelle Gautrand-designed building, next to the historic Parramatta Town Hall, is under construction and slated to open in mid 2022.

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Originally published as Phive confirmed as final name for 5 Parramatta Square