Renowned author, architect condemn plan to ‘rip the guts out’ of award-winning visitor centre at Strahan

A move to “rip the guts out” of an award-winning visitor centre has been condemned by a celebrated author and a prominent architect, who have implored the local council to abandon its plan.

The West Coast Visitor Information Centre (or Strahan Visitor Centre) on the Strahan waterfront. Picture: Supplied

A move to “rip the guts out” of a beloved visitor centre on Tasmania’s West Coast has drawn the ire of a prominent architect and infuriated a world-famous author who developed an exhibition tailored for the space.

The West Coast Visitor Information Centre at Strahan was designed by Robert Morris-Nunn and completed in 1992.

It has been recognised with numerous awards and its Reflections Exhibition is provisionally listed on the Tasmanian Heritage Register.

Architect Robert Morris-Nunn. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

As a young author and historian, Booker Prize-winning Tasmanian novelist Richard Flanagan was engaged in the early 1990s to research and develop “innovative and challenging” interpretation material for the Reflections Exhibition housed in the centre.

As part of a broader redevelopment of Strahan’s waterfront precinct, the West Coast Council is embarking on a “renewal” of the visitor centre to “enhance visitor servicing”.

The centre will be temporarily relocated to new premises while the existing site is redeveloped.

The Reflections Exhibition at the West Coast Visitor Information Centre (or Strahan Visitor Centre) on the Strahan waterfront. Picture: Supplied

Mr Morris-Nunn said designing the centre and its exhibition was a “fairly monumental task” and the work sought to “tell the story of humanity over on the West Coast”.

He said any accessibility issues the council may have identified at the site were “very minor” and could be addressed without having to dismantle the interior of the building.

“It’s basically about not throwing the baby out with the bath water,” he said.

“All those [issues] are solvable. It’s like any heritage building, for Christ’s sake. They don’t have lifts, they don’t have stairs with the correct steps, all that stuff – you can get around it.

“And so it’s [about] looking at it intelligently and positively, rather than [saying] … ‘It doesn’t work, so we’ll just rip the guts out of it’.”

Richard Flanagan. Picture: Zak Simmonds

West Coast Mayor Shane Pitt told ABC Radio that work was set to begin on Tuesday but had now been delayed until next week.

He said there were “trip hazards” in the exhibition and it wasn’t accessible to people with mobility issues.

“Where possible, some of the organic components within the exhibition will be replanted in appropriate locations. Some of them may not be able to relocate,” Mr Pitt said.

“We’ve worked closely with Heritage [Tasmania] with regard to this. And we’ve undertaken a digital preservation of the items within the exhibition also.

“We’re also looking at seeking some more funding for a strategy for a future display for the remaining exhibition items. So we’ve certainly done a lot of work.”

The West Coast Visitor Information Centre (or Strahan Visitor Centre) on the Strahan waterfront. Picture: Supplied

The materials in the Reflections Exhibition weave together stories of the Aboriginal population, convicts, the forestry and mining industries, the hydropower heritage of the region, and the heated conflict over the proposed Franklin Dam in the 1980s.

In a statement provided to the Mercury, Mr Flanagan, who grew up at Rosebery, described the move to “destroy” the visitor centre as “the work of cowards and fools”.

“If the West Coast Council were proud of what they were doing they wouldn’t have tried to bury [their] public announcement of the act on Christmas Eve and slated its destruction by mid-January before the heritage order took effect,” he said.

Originally published as Renowned author, architect condemn plan to ‘rip the guts out’ of award-winning visitor centre at Strahan