‘Jinxed’ South Beach change room’s slab to get pulled up in fresh hurdle
A long-awaited toilet and change room block at a premier southern suburbs beach marred by years of setbacks has hit another snag, with revelations its concrete foundation must be torn up and rebuilt.
On Monday, the City of Fremantle notified beachgoers that the under-construction South Beach change room facility’s concrete slab would need to be removed and replaced due to a “problem”.
Credit: City of Fremantle/Facebook
“As with all major projects, issues can arise that require attention and rectification,” the city announced.
“In this case, the building contractor will be working to fix a problem with the concrete slab.”
Aside from mentioning the need to remove and replace the slab, no further explanation was given to explain what the problem was, or how the work would be carried out.
The city’s Facebook post was met with a slew of comments berating the handling of the situation.
In a response to questions from this masthead on Tuesday, a city spokesperson said the concrete ground floor slab was “not laid according to the technical specification”, and that the floor could be replaced without impacting the rest of the complete works.
“The contractor has developed a methodology to ensure the removal works are carried out without damage to the other structures,” they said.
“Expert advice from both structural and architectural consultants was sought, which confirmed this.”
Three summers have passed since an initial design for the South Beach toilet block – including family rooms and beach wheelchairs facilities – was first green-lit by Fremantle council in October 2022, with construction expected the following February.
Residents excited at the prospect of the modern and stylish concept drawings were later shocked when in December 2023, city officers recommended rejecting two tenders for the project because they went well beyond the $2.15 million budget.
South Beach change rooms were torn down in August 2023.Credit: Mark Naglazas
With a 1960s original change room structure already torn down, visitors were given sewered change rooms as a temporary solution.
A reprieve finally came in April last year, when the city awarded the construction contract to ICS Australia with an agreement the cost would not exceed $2.5 million.
Work started in June 2024 and was expected to finish by mid-2025.
Despite the mishap and an “adjustment” to the construction timeline, the spokesperson confirmed the project was still on track to finish June 2025 – at no additional cost to the city.
For locals, the latest incident is just another blow in a long line of unintended battles to see the project come to fruition.
South Fremantle resident and South Beach regular Ian Ker, who has long expressed disappointment over the facility’s stagnant progress, said the community felt uncertain going forward.
“I’m getting the feeling this is a jinxed project,” he said.
“There seemed to be difficulties all along the line, right from the first stage of the design, which was modified a dozen times due to budget changes and difficulties getting contractors.
“It’s been going along, slowly, but it’s going, and now we hear there is a ‘problem’.”
Ker said a lack of communication had exacerbated the community’s worries about future complications.
“Presumably there is going to be a substantial cost for the builder, given the state of the building industry we can’t take for granted that the builder will be able to bear those costs,” he said.
“Bottom line, from my perspective, is that there’s been a lot of effort and a lot of money and a lot of community input to this project and I would hate to see it end up as something with ongoing problems,” he said.
The new slab is expected to be laid in March.
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