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Latrobe Creative Precinct Taking Shape

Latrobe Creative Precinct takes shape with construction of the fly tower set to take centre stage in the coming weeks.

By Portal Admin - 15th June 2020 - Back to News

Work on the Latrobe Creative Precinct is shaping up with construction of the fly tower set to take centre stage in the coming weeks. The orchestra pit, basement car park and auditorium slab have all been completed in recent weeks.

Latrobe City Council Mayor, Councillor Dan Clancey, said the project was moving ahead well with some significant milestones achieved.

"Over coming weeks and months the community will have its first taste of what the precinct will look like, when the fly tower frame starts to be installed. Often it can be difficult at the start of a major project to really visualise the finished product when there’s fences rather than walls and windows.

"A theatrical fly tower is essentially a loft that houses rigging, lighting and other behind the scenes equipment and enables the crew to move scenery and curtains out of the view of the audience. Once the tower is constructed, the building will begin to look more like the state of art theatre that it will become," Cr Clancey said.

As the project advances a number of components have recently been completed. The auditorium slab has been poured, as has the basement car park. Basement precast panels have been installed and the slab for the ‘lid’ on the basement will be poured in stages with the first pour taking place shortly.

"A recently completed milestone was completing the orchestra pit. The pit is home to a giant multi-level platform that can be used as an extension of the stage at the stage level, an extension of the auditorium seating at the seating level and an orchestra pit at a level 1.4 meters lower than the auditorium," Cr Clancey said.

"Some of the less glamourous, but still important, work going on involves installation of utilities and amenities such as storm water, sewer, water supply, gas works reticulation and the foundations that hold up what is about to start coming out of the ground and street level.

"We’re at an exciting stage in the project and over coming months, we’ll see the theatre begin to rise from the ground to remind us of the magnificent asset that is going to put our regional city on the performing arts map."

The project has been made possible by collaborative investment from the Australian Government’s Community Development Grants Programme ($10 million), the Victorian Government’s Regional Jobs and Infrastructure Fund ($10 million) and Latrobe City Council

Source: www.gippsland.com

Published by: support@gippsland.com