Sophie Conlon
City of Mount Gambier councillor Paul Jenner has renewed calls to the council to allow community groups to use the Olympic Park building, which has been sitting empty for years.
At the councils April 18 meeting Cr Jenner asked what council’s plan was for the future of the site and if community groups could use the building in the short term.
“It’s not owned by me, it’s not owned by us [the council], it is owned by the community, why can’t the community use community assets?,” he asked.
Council general manager city and community growth Sue La Greca said council staff were ‘planning consultation to develop a set of guiding principles for endorsement early next year’ for the Sport, Recreation and Open Space Strategy and the Strategic Property Management implementation.
“Use of these premises in the short term is not recommended until such time as council’s future plans are clear, and that the facility is fit for purpose, safe and/or able to be developed by a proponent given that council does not currently have a capital upgrade/renewal allocation for this site,” she said.
Cr Jenner refuted this and said the Olympic Park building was safe, but would only get worse the longer it was left empty.
“We’re just letting those premises sit idle and go into disrepair, we have other premises in my view that are going into disrepair and I just cannot understand why this is,” he said.
Council chief executive officer Sarah Phillpot said she understood there were tensions surrounding the use of the building, but plans had to be made before council invested in the area.
“We’re conscious of the demand for community spaces,” she said.
“We’re trying to make sure that as we step forward we do so with a picture of the precinct in mind.”
Outside the meeting, Cr Jenner told The Border Watch he believed there were other buildings within the city also at risk of falling into disrepair.
“We already have a heap of buildings that are in need of urgent help now,” he said.
“One’s the civic centre, the Icehouse, Wehl Street Theatre, and the old boys institute.
“When a building stays shut it goes backwards, that’s what I’m worried about with Olympic Park because it takes too much to get it back to scratch.”
He said he did not think the building was in need of major repairs, perhaps just a lick of paint to refresh its look.
“It’s not in this years budget to look at doing a management plan there, so it is going to be years until we look at it,” he said.
“If it’s going to stay idle, why don’t groups at least be able to use it… and the community gets use of an asset they own.”
