By the end of 2017, one of the city’s biggest eyesores will be gone.
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Orange City Council wants residents to review their plans to demolish the old base hospital, with work expected to begin within six to eight months after a tender has been awarded in September.
Council’s engineering services manager Wayne Harris was confident the former hospital could be demolished without adverse effects to neighbours.
”The amount of contamination and remediation is not that complex, there’s asbestos, synthetic mineral fibre and lead paint, the extent of it is not unusual and we don’t envisage it being a difficult task to manage done by experienced contractors,” Mr Harris said.
Only the old ambulance station and the tower will remain. When the land was sold to council, it was valued at $3.3 million, with $2.3 million of the price set aside for demolition.
“We’ve been waiting for years, it’s taken us years to purchase the building and negotiate with state health,” mayor John Davis said.
“Within 12 months this facility won’t be here. The demolition plan will go on public exhibition on Saturday for 14 days, for community members to comment.”
The plan will feature proposed conditions including hours of work, dust, noise and truck moments. Councillor Davis said the full-city block included 16,000 tonnes of bricks and mortar. Once demolition is completed, the site will be opened to developers, who will decide if they want to keep the tower block, potentially using it for residential purposes.
“There wouldn’t be many places in NSW that are going to knock down a site this size for a development,” Cr Davis said.
Cr Davis said council was open to ideas for the future of the block, “whether it could high rise, units or free standing houses, the idea is to have that we have complete control over what goes here.”
He said council did not want “unsuitable” buildings, possibly a village green and the former ambulance station renovated into a cafe.
“We want the end product to be a centre piece for the Orange community.”
Cr Davis said the cost of demolition was half the value of the block, “it won’t be a hindrance or a burden”.
Declan Rurenga
Declan Rurenga was the editor of Griffith's Area News and Leeton's Irrigator until September 2023. Before landing at the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area, he reported news in Junee, Wagga Wagga, Orange and Cootamundra.
Declan Rurenga was the editor of Griffith's Area News and Leeton's Irrigator until September 2023. Before landing at the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area, he reported news in Junee, Wagga Wagga, Orange and Cootamundra.
