Developer Errol Stewart said the wharf would start from the hotel and end at the Kings Wharf building. 

“I think there is a good proposition to the government to rebuild Kings Wharf … I’d like to put a proposition forward, so I will do just that in the not too distant future,” Mr Stewart said.  

“We’ve started to look at it. We kind of have a design on it in terms of architecturally.” Mr Stewart said some analysis would be done on costs to fix the existing poles and he plans to get government input on the project. 

“The wharf is stuffed. It’s completely unusable, unserviceable, it’s ugly and a blight on the river system,” he said. 

With the other developments in the area, such as the National Automobile Museum of Tasmania, Riverbend Park and the hotel opening, Mr Stewart said it was time to fix the wharf. 

“Now the place is coming alive, I think we should fix the wharf,” he said. The derelict site was built about 1917 but later destroyed by fire. The area could function like Hobart’s Princess Wharf, Mr Stewart said.  

“Stage two would be to build a building on it and call that Kings Wharf Shed or whatever shed you’d like to call it. I’m not saying we should copy Hobart, but I think it would be a great public asset,” he said. 

“The wharf is going to get fixed some time whether it’s in my lifetime or the next person’s that comes along. But we’d like to put a proposition into the government now especially with a [federal] election coming up to see if we can get some funding.”

Mr Stewart said the area would become a great public asset and lots of good things could happen at the site.

Once the wharf is rebuilt it would become public land. The area is currently owned by Crown Land. 

Despite Mr Stewart saying he wanted it to be a government-funded project, he said there is no resemblance to his works at the CH Smith site.

“The wharf is a public asset now, and the difference is CH Smith is a private asset,” he said. 

Mr Stewart did a similar project with the wharf at the Seaport. He fixed the area, and then the council took the area back over. While it’s too early to throw ballpark figures around, Mr Stewart said the proposal would cost a “bit of money”.