Proposed Cowes Cultural Centre, view towards the main entry. Illustration: Perkins Architects
By Catherine Watson
COWES is to get a new $19 million cultural centre incorporating a theatre/cinema, function room, library and meeting rooms.
At yesterday’s council meeting, councillors voted to demolish the current cultural centre and build a new none, rather than renovate and extend the current one. There was applause from the gallery as the new build was approved.
COWES is to get a new $19 million cultural centre incorporating a theatre/cinema, function room, library and meeting rooms.
At yesterday’s council meeting, councillors voted to demolish the current cultural centre and build a new none, rather than renovate and extend the current one. There was applause from the gallery as the new build was approved.
Proposed Cowes Cultural Centre, view from Thompson Avenue. Illustration: Perkins Architects The decision to allocate the funds in the 2020-21 and 2021-22 budgets was the culmination of years of debate, false hopes and broken dreams.
At $19 million, it’s the costliest project undertaken by the council. The council is prepared to
fund $15 million from borrowings and $4 million from council reserves, although it will continue to seek state and federal government funding to reduce its overall costs.
The project was supported by seven councillors, with two – Cr Les Larke and Cr Julian Brown – abstaining on the grounds that they believed the project should be part of the normal budget process.
The costs for the retrofit and the new build were about the same, but councillors agreed that building a new centre would make better use of space and result in a more environmentally sustainable building requiring less maintenance.
The new design is two storeys, which also reduces the building footprint, saving several significant trees from the axe and enlarging the green space around the centre.
The previous council unsuccessfully sought state and federal funding to refurbish the centre but one of the first decisions of the incoming council, in December 2016, was to shelve the then $17 million refurbishment project.
Moving the motion to build a new centre, Cr Stephen Fullarton said the Phillip Island community had been pushing for decades for a new cultural centre.
Plans by Perkins Architects show a theatre/cinema with seating for 200, a multi-purpose community hall that can seat up to 400 or be divided into three smaller meeting spaces and a central “great hall”.
On the second floor, there are a large library, rooms for the historical and genealogy societies, and a small commercial gallery.
The architects noted a smaller footprint allows substantial open public space to the north of the site to be retained and made available for civic use “creating a true focus for events and activity”.
At $19 million, it’s the costliest project undertaken by the council. The council is prepared to
fund $15 million from borrowings and $4 million from council reserves, although it will continue to seek state and federal government funding to reduce its overall costs.
The project was supported by seven councillors, with two – Cr Les Larke and Cr Julian Brown – abstaining on the grounds that they believed the project should be part of the normal budget process.
The costs for the retrofit and the new build were about the same, but councillors agreed that building a new centre would make better use of space and result in a more environmentally sustainable building requiring less maintenance.
The new design is two storeys, which also reduces the building footprint, saving several significant trees from the axe and enlarging the green space around the centre.
The previous council unsuccessfully sought state and federal funding to refurbish the centre but one of the first decisions of the incoming council, in December 2016, was to shelve the then $17 million refurbishment project.
Moving the motion to build a new centre, Cr Stephen Fullarton said the Phillip Island community had been pushing for decades for a new cultural centre.
Plans by Perkins Architects show a theatre/cinema with seating for 200, a multi-purpose community hall that can seat up to 400 or be divided into three smaller meeting spaces and a central “great hall”.
On the second floor, there are a large library, rooms for the historical and genealogy societies, and a small commercial gallery.
The architects noted a smaller footprint allows substantial open public space to the north of the site to be retained and made available for civic use “creating a true focus for events and activity”.
| Cr Stephen Fullarton “It will be a massive benefit for our community. We’ve been pushing for it for so long and I’m thrilled to support it.” Cr Clare Le Serve “It’s very hard to retrofit a new building around an old building. You only have to watch The Block to see how many tears are in that. I think this is an intergenerational building. It’s going to be there for generations to enjoy.” Cr Julian Brown “This is the single most expensive item we’ve had before us in this term. If the proper process is to put all this discussion into our budget process then surely it’s consistent to hold this one over until next year as well.” Cr Bruce Kent “I’ve been looking at this process for the past couple of years knowing that once we get our act together on the right building – and I believe this is the right building – that we’ll move ahead. I see this as a great achievement for the whole of Bass Coast.” | Pamela Rothfield “I think it’s excellent and I’m so excited. There is room for more green space, which is so important to our community. The library can continue operating in its current space until the project is finished, which will save money.” Cr Michael Whelan “It’s a good time to be going to the market for funding. We’re getting encouragement from governments to bring that major infrastructure spending forward. It’s going to help the economy of Bass Coast. It’s exciting and let’s get the hell on with it.” Cr Geoff Ellis “We are finally going to get the building we deserve there that will blend in with the historic and the indigenous nature of Cowes. And we will finally get a library in Cowes that the people of Phillip island deserve rather than the little shoebox it is now.” |
 Proposed Cowes Cultural Centre, ground floor plan. Design: Perkins Architects |  Proposed Cowes Cultural Centre, first floor plan. Design: Perkins Architects |