00:02It's a building that survived a lot, from fires to a pandemic, finally undone by black
00:08mould.
00:09It's mud bricks reduced to rubble.
00:11Absolutely furious, gutted I suppose in a way.
00:15That's a celebration of what it used to be.
00:18Tony Trobe won a competition to design the building.
00:21It was opened by then Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip, and cost just over $900,000 to build.
00:27The government closed the centre in 2023 following a history of maintenance issues, including
00:33moisture and mould, and says it couldn't afford repairs.
00:37Unfortunately it just hasn't stood up to the time and the extreme environments out there.
00:42The effects of water ingress and some mould.
00:45It was cutting edge, and it did require, remember at the time, it did require maintenance, particularly
00:51in terms of waterproofing.
00:52But Brett McNamara said years of budget requests for maintenance fell on deaf ears.
00:57We need to make sure that the capital investment is there in terms of the ongoing maintenance
01:02to make sure that we don't lose these iconic buildings.
01:05The architects were alarmed to learn staff were unaware of basic operations.
01:09Somebody rang him one day and said, oh we're worried about the building because all the
01:13papers are curling up.
01:14They didn't realise that for an evaporative cooling system you have to have the windows open.
01:18In 25 years the architects were never told of any other problems, but Tony Trobe says the
01:24issues are symptomatic of a failure to maintain the buildings.
01:27The government set aside almost $2 million in 2024 for demolition, remediation and the planning
01:34of a new centre.
01:35I think the view is that an alternative site may be preferable at the moment, so we're still
01:40looking at that.
01:40But with no timeline, visitors will be making do with a temporary building.
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