Caleb Bond: There is no excuse to bulldoze the Waite gatehouse

A feasibility study says the heritage-listed Waite gatehouse could be moved – but the government says otherwise. Can these ministers read?

The Waite gatehouse which is set for demolition. Picture: Tricia Watkinson

One of the basic requirements of being a minister of the crown, I would have thought, was the ability to read. In this basic task, though, Transport Minister Corey Wingard and Skills Minister David Pisoni seem to be lacking.

On Friday, they said a feasibility study found it would not be possible to move the historic Waite gatehouse at the corner of Cross and Fullarton roads because it would be too expensive and likely unsuccessful.

But if you read the report of which they speak, it says the exact opposite.

They can’t claim it was a lack of attention span at work, because, on just the sixth page, the report by FMG Engineering says “the proposal to move the building is feasible from a structural point of view”.

Perhaps my glasses aren’t working properly, but that seems to suggest that you could move the state heritage-listed building to allow for road widening if you had the inclination to do so.

The report doesn’t sugar-coat that moving the building could be difficult, but it explicitly says it is feasible.

The corner where the gatehouse sits, which will be used to widen the road. Picture: Tricia Watkinson

The gatehouse is part of the historic Urrbrae estate that was bequeathed to the University of Adelaide by agriculturalist Peter Waite in 1914.

He gave 54ha to the university on the proviso that half be used for agricultural science and the other half for a public park. He gave another 45ha to the state government to establish an agricultural high school.

The lodge on the corner was built in about 1890 as a gatehouse to Urrbrae House. The head gardener of the property lived there. That garden, of course, is now the Waite Arboretum.

It is a magnificent old building of great architectural merit.

As with many buildings of its era, there is no longer architecture to rival its beauty or intricacy. That is something we should strive to protect at all costs.

As a somewhat recent resident of the western suburbs, the drive past the gatehouse as I trek down Cross Road to the South Eastern Freeway has become a favourite part of my trip.

It’s comforting to know that we still have buildings of that ilk and beauty in our city.

The cost of moving it would be a mere $900,000. I’ll happily chip in a couple of grand if I have to.

Protesters opposing the gatehouse’s demolition. Picture: Dean Martin

Surely, at a time when the Marshall Government is throwing around money like its confetti in the name of economic stimulus, the cost of moving a heritage-listed building should not be too much.

In a perfect world, the gatehouse would remain exactly where it is.

But it happens to sit on a busy intersection that will be carved up for road-widening.

You cannot stop progress. But you cannot call any form of development progress if it comes at the cost of our city’s history and beauty.

That’s when it becomes regression, rather than progression. We are so lucky to live in a city filled with such magnificent buildings and architecture.

We take it for granted, some times, because we are so often surrounded by it. But visitors to Adelaide – particularly those from overseas – marvel at our historic buildings.

You think of any city in the world. In massive city-state-type places such as Hong Kong and Singapore you might marvel at new skyscrapers.

But everywhere else we marvel at old architecture that is still standing.

Heritage buildings bring character and appeal to a city. They lift us up and make us feel proud to live where we do.

If you live in a joint that looks like a dump, you’re going to feel like you live in a dump.

If you live in a place full of beautiful buildings and real character, you’ll be glad to live there. And we’re going to give up one of those lovely places for a road?

In a world where we can pick up old buildings and drop them somewhere else, there is no excuse to erase our built history in the name of “progress”.

A city that wilfully destroys its heritage is not a city at all. It is simply a vessel for people to occupy, free of character and history.

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Originally published as Caleb Bond: There is no excuse to bulldoze the Waite gatehouse