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Old Civic Precinct Library To Be Demolished

Restrictive fencing has been erected around the old civic precinct library on the corner of Grey and Church Streets in Traralgon as a prelude to demolition of the structure in the forthcoming weeks.

By Latrobe City - 24th May 2007 - Back to News

Remembered with nostalgia by a whole generation of library users between the 1960s and 1990s; the building, usually referred to by council officers as ‘The North Wing’, was decommissioned as a library and appropriated for council business administration under the shire commissioners in 1994.

Latrobe City’s chief executive officer, Paul Buckley, said for many years the building then served as the administrative office for council’s engineering services which in time became council’s City Infrastructure department.

"By the end of the twentieth century it was quite clear that the building had served its useful life and had developed a number of structural faults and maintenance problems. With the consolidation of most of council’s administrative personnel to the corporate headquarters in 2005, the building became redundant other than for some minor storage purposes," Mr Buckley explained.

Mr Buckley said that following the move to the corporate headquarters the civic precinct had undergone a number of exciting changes that enhanced service delivery for the community. "A large part of the former City of Traralgon building was gutted inside, and a new service centre developed within that shell, together with a library that reflects community needs with plenty of room for studying, computer use and for the vast collection of print and electronic media available for reference and loan. The former ‘Function Room’ now known as the ‘Macfarlane Burnet Room’ has also been retained for civic purposes.

"In 2006 further development of the civic precinct came to fruition with the refurbishment of the former Shire of Traralgon building to become a state-of-the-art maternal and child health centre, with meeting rooms and consultation rooms set in a bright and friendly environment. The demolition of the North Wing marks another step in refurbishing the civic precinct to meet community needs, as the space being generated is earmarked for further car parking in the civic precinct," Mr Buckley said.

Mr Buckley said care is being taken to ensure that two historical plaques are conserved for relocation to an appropriate site. One plaque commemorates ninety years of library service, from 1876 – 1966, provided through the Mechanics Institute which once graced Hotham Street. The second plaque is dedicated to the 1966 opening of the replacement library.

"Eighteen months ago a wonderful new library facility opened in the civic precinct, superseding the cramped conditions at the Kath Teychenne Centre with a library more in keeping with the twenty-first century. In recent weeks, the new Traralgon Neighbourhood House opened at the Kath Teychenne Centre in premises refurbished by council, signalling a new era for community access. A new multi-storey car park in the CBD is currently under construction, and there are massive housing and retail developments underway across town. Just as new eras are born, the final chapter closes on others; and the demolition of the North Wing, although beneficial for the sustainability of the civic precinct, will no doubt raise nostalgic memories among many who grew up simply knowing it as ‘the library’," Mr Buckley concluded.

Source: www.gippsland.com

Published by: news@gippsland.com

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