The North-West’s most notorious eyesore will be gone by July.
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Devonport’s old maternity hospital will be bought from Melbourne-based owner Portside Development by the Devonport City Council for $950,000 and demolished.
The state government will provide the council with a grant of up to $950,000 for demolition and to return the Steele St site to a greenfield state.
The old maternity hospital will be reborn, transformed from a dangerous eyesore into an area with unlimited potential.
- Jeremy Rockliff
The deal requires the council to have the old hospital down by the end of July, and the council and the government hope it will be sooner than that.
The council expects to sell the site once demolition is complete, for private residential or commercial development.
The site has been mostly disused since the late 1980s, and the building has been extensively vandalised.
Deputy Premier Jeremy Rockliff said use of public money to deal with the site was appropriate because the old hospital had been an eyesore for too long.
“You could argue it’s a stain on the city,” Mr Rockliff said.
He said the deal would set up the site to add economic and social value to the city.
“The old maternity hospital will be reborn, transformed from a dangerous eyesore into an area with unlimited potential,” Mr Rockliff said.
“I would like to thank the council for their commitment and hard work to help deliver such a positive solution for the community and the region.”
Devonport Mayor Steve Martin said there had been several attempts to find a use for the site and all had been unsuccessful.
“It’s a way of moving forward for the city,” Alderman Martin said.
“Council have been working for some time with the property owners to reach an acceptable agreement to purchase the site and is very pleased that the state government has come on board to assist with the demolition, meaning this eyesore in an important entrance to Devonport will be permanently removed.”
The council acknowledged it might not get a full return on its “investment,” but said it felt the deal was a once in a lifetime opportunity to remove an “unacceptable blot” on the landscape.
The site was sold by the state government in 1994.
The council made attempts to secure a use for it, but found it had limited powers to force various private owners to deal with its deteriorating condition.
Portside’s Ben Singline said the company had been unable to find the right purpose for such a big building.
The council expects to take ownership in late September.
Tenders for demolition will be advertised on August 26.