It’s time for Sunshine Coast Council to build its $37 million regional art gallery and take the first steps in establishing Caloundra as our major cultural and creative hub.
That’s the view of Caloundra Chamber of Commerce CEO Brady Sullivan as the vote looms at the council’s Ordinary Meeting on August 24 on whether the regional art gallery will proceed.
Agenda item 8.9 seeks endorsement of the recommendations of the business case report, plus an amended urban design concept for the Caloundra Community and Creative Hub Precinct that reflects the preferred location of the proposed new gallery.
The extensive and detailed business case report, prepared by Savills Project Management, recommends Option D of the three key locations: using the western portion of the existing Caloundra Library.
The other options are: building on the existing gallery site on the corner of Otranto and Omrah avenues; constructing a new gallery at the site of the former council administration buildings on the corner of Bulcock Street and Otranto Avenue; or taking no action.
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The report states that Option D would retain a large portion of Felicity Park with the potential to create a significant town square and extend open green space between the corner of Bulcock Street and Otranto Avenue, and the new Library and The Events Centre. This option aligns with community feedback from Create Caloundra consultation that wanted to maximise open space and increase vegetation.
The option also allows the current gallery to operate through the construction period.
The Savills report states that the development of the new regional gallery would be “a key component of the vision for the Caloundra Community and Creative Hub Precinct, and an important cultural facility for the Sunshine Coast region”.
The report acknowledges there is currently no funding identified within the 10-year capital works program to deliver the project and that significant external funding would need to be secured for the facility to be delivered in the short to medium term.
“The 2023/2024 financial year budget provides $350,000 to progress further planning and conceptual design for the new gallery,” it says.
“The estimated cost of constructing the new regional gallery is approximately $37 million which equates to approximately $12,915/sqm. This estimate is preliminary only and based on early concept drawings and reference design, including a contingency allowance of 20 per cent.”
Mr Sullivan believes that with significant levels of research and consultation with stakeholders complete, the council now must act in the interest of meeting community needs and expectations in developing the vision of Caloundra for the future.
“The proposed art gallery is part of the Create Caloundra project, which delivers a wonderful green town square for our community, a new library of scale that services our growing community and the regional art gallery of scale and quality that can attract significant national-quality exhibitions,” he told Sunshine Coast News this week after the council’s meeting agenda was released.
“Now’s the time to take the steps to move forward to create the investment.
“There’s been significant investment on the top end of the Coast, with the Maroochydore CBD and Sunshine Coast Airport.
“The Caloundra Master Plan was a piece of work that was endorsed back in 2019 and set out urban planning and infrastructure opportunities in the Caloundra CBD. Caloundra has been identified as the cultural and creative hub.
“It’s been great to see other big projects occurring in the Coast that are region making.
“Now it’s time to invest in these projects that will be both essential to support vibrancy and investment in Caloundra, helping to strengthen the broader economy, attract talent and improve liveability.”
A modern regional gallery would not only showcase local exhibitions and the council-owned art collection, but also have opportunities to attract exhibitions of national and international significance, Mr Sullivan said.
“Bendigo Regional Gallery has been able to attract exhibitions such as the Elvis Presley Exhibition which saw tens-of-thousands of visitors, providing huge economic benefits to the region,” he said.
Mr Sullivan said the chamber had been “thoroughly consulted” by the council officers and councillors on perceived direct and indirect economic and social benefits of the project.
Great beaches in our region were not enough in themselves to attract “the right talent” to grow our regional economy, he said.
“Investing in the arts will build our cultural and night-time economy which is essential to attract quality talent,” Mr Sullivan said.
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“The current Caloundra Regional Gallery is great and it’s had significant support from the community and arts lovers. But to be able to provide infrastructure and experiences that a mature region expects and deserves, we need to invest in modern cultural and arts facilities of the scale seen in the business case.
“These projects are essential to incentivise and provide vibrancy to attract investment in dwelling uplift in Caloundra CBD necessary to house our future community.
“We understand that there is circa $900m in potential redevelopment investment in and around the (Caloundra) CBD to provide infrastructure and future homes for our community.
“The investors and business members that we’ve discussed this project with are really excited by the project and agree that it builds confidence and value in the continued investment in our region.”
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