Vice-Chancellor's weekly column
A cultural centre deserves support
4 October 2008
It is a welcome signal that the Regional Council is likely to have a Maroochydore town centre plan ready by the end of the year.
The Sippy Downs town centre is designed to complement Maroochydore, acknowledging that Maroochydore is the regional commercial and civic centre and that Sippy Downs is a sub-regional boutique university village, with a focus on education, high-tech job generation, and ensuring the development of a sustainable community.
One of the elements of regional significance that is still missing from the Coast, however, and is a vital part of the cultural infrastructure increasingly sought by university personnel, new entrepreneurs, and so many others in the general community, is a genuine regional arts/entertainment centre.
Feasibility studies of one kind or another have been on the agenda since at least 1984 – 24 years ago! We are now the largest community in the State without a tiered theatre of style and scale.
Let us hope that within the new Maroochydore town centre that there is not only the provision for such a facility, but that the Plan actually facilitates a rethink on the importance of civic infrastructure for the quality of life, and cultural identity of the Coast.
The overwhelming problem I suspect remains cost, and without the significant political support that the Gold Coast Arts Centre attracted for its State Government funded construction cost of $120 million, a similar Centre will not be built on the Sunshine Coast.
In 1984 the cost was a projected $6M, now, I suspect, it is nearer $100M and rising annually.
Despite the staunch high-profile advocates over the years, it has been one disappointment after another. You have to admire the tenacity and perseverance of Michael Bloyce over so many years that he remains the champion of the idea. Many in his position would have given up a long time ago.
A decade or so ago, sport was short on facilities but because of champions like Benny Pike, the provisions for sport on the Coast have improved significantly. In that same period, and despite the fact that twice as many people in Australia attend cultural events as attend sporting events, little has been accomplished with major cultural infrastructure.
John Lockhart at Chancellor College tried bravely but in vain to obtain more than just a school cultural venue, but neither the University nor other groups were able to find the resources to fund a smaller boutique Centre he sought.
The main focus, however, remains the key civic infrastructure in the Principal Activity Centre at Maroochydore. Its future will determine whether a Region of this scale has a heart it deserves.
Professor Paul Thomas AM is Vice-Chancellor at the University of the Sunshine Coast.