DECADES of rich history and heritage of the Mount Gambier Girl Guides will be lost when its structure is levelled to make way for the $39.1m Mount Gambier Community and Recreation Hub.
The group was advised last week the building – which has served the Girl Guides at O’Halloran Terrace for over five decades – will be demolished as part of the Olympic Park overhaul.
This is despite Girl Guides local leader Katherine Davies receiving an earlier indication from council the hall would survive the construction phase.
“I went to one of the council run information sessions and I asked a staff member if the Girl Guides hall would be affected because none of the hub’s overlay plans showed where it would sit in relation to the existing buildings,” she said.
“I was told then the hall would survive by a staff member at council.
“Then at the ground-breaking ceremony around June I was told again by a number of representatives from council that it was not on the cards for the building to be demolished.”
That was until last week when the group was notified of the hall’s imminent demolition, which Ms Davies said did not come as a surprise.
“A lot of us in the back of our minds had an inevitability that this hall was not going to survive, despite the council telling us otherwise,” she said.
“At the end of the day, this is a council building, it’s on council land, so there is little fight in this for us.”
While understanding of council’s position, Ms Davies said her biggest frustration was the decision was not made at an earlier stage.
“If information stating there was a serious risk the hall could be demolished before the public vote, I am not sure it would have affected the vote, but it certainly would have been nice for the community to have the information,” she said.
“It is disappointing that we have found out at this point, given the hub has now been around and talked about for a long time.”
City Council deputy mayor Sonya Mezinec said the initial plans did not appear to affect the Girl Guides.
“It highlights the issue we had in the beginning in relation to going for the grant in the fact that we had extremely tight time frames,” she said.
“That undertaking we gave to the guides was given to the best of our knowledge at the time.”
Ms Mezinec said the position of council changed after fire safety requirements for the new development were outlined.
“That building is just a bit too close so that’s why unfortunately, it has to be demolished.
“We do accept that it is disappointing that we have to go back to someone and say what we thought was going to be the case, is not going to be the case any more.”
With a rich history spanning over 100 years, the group now faces the challenge of finding an alternative location.
Ms Davies said she was committed to reaching a solution for the 23 girls and their families who make up the Mount Gambier Girl Guides.
“At this point it is so early on and we need to work out our option because we are going to lose our financial position of being able to sub-lease this hall,” she said.
“We will find somewhere that we can keep operating from because we have too many girls that are invested.”
Ms Mezinec said council was committed to helping the Girl Guides work towards a transitional solution to a new location.
“We are trying very hard to try to facilitate the best possible solution and outcomes for people in this transitional phase,” she said.
“When people are having to look at making different arrangements, it can be difficult at first and we have only had one round of discussions, so it is only the beginning of the process to help the parties affected.”
Other key stakeholders who will be affected by the build are the existing Mount Gambier Aquatic Centre, the Mount Gambier Scouts, the Open Door Baptist Church and the tennis and netball clubs.
