Personally I think this is a terrible way to decide what is worth keeping:
Chapter manager Nicolette Dilernia said the church had value “if you are a fan of that ’60s modernist, ecclesiastical style, but unfortunately to a lot of people it’s seen as ugly”.
“ I think the net benefit will probably outweigh what’s there now,” she said. “On balance it’s probably not a tragic loss to the architectural heritage of Adelaide.”
Uniting Communities to demolish its historic Maughan Church for $60m development
http://www.news.com.au/national/uniting ... 7475734141
AN HISTORIC city church nominated for the state’s highest heritage protection will be demolished to make way for a $60 million development providing accommodation for people with disabilities and a vertical retirement village.
Uniting Communities has unveiled plans for a building of at least 17 storeys, the first in a two-stage development, on its Maughan Church site on the corner of Franklin and Pitt streets.
The State Government ordered the lifting of the 50-year-old church’s provisional state heritage listing to allow the project to go ahead.
Uniting Communities chief executive Simon Schrapel said the project would help alleviate an acute shortage of respite accommodation in the city, create a community and social hub, and help secure the organisation’s future.
Mr Schrapel said it would give people with disabilities somewhere affordable to stay, whether they were in town for healthcare or to see an AFL game or theatre show.
“People with disabilities and older people have as much right to live or stay in a premium city location as everyone else,” he said.
“We figure this is a much better way of making us sustainable for the next 50 years.
“And the state can do with the economic boost from this sort of development.”
The proposal includes 18 disability respite apartments for short-term stays, nine apartments for short to medium stays for people with disabilities and their carers, and 36 retirement apartments for older people on the top floors.
An auditorium with up to 600 seats would host church congregations, small conferences and other community uses, alongside a ground-floor cafe and community arts workshop and gallery. Uniting Communities would occupy up to four levels of office space and rent out another two while increasing its social services on the site.
It is seeking state and federal government support to expand the numbers of disability apartments, and could add more retirement apartments to the plan based on market demand. Penaluna Place, currently built over at the northern end, would be opened to pedestrians as a direct route to the Central Market.
Mr Schrapel said plans would be lodged with the Development Assessment Commission later in the year and hoped for construction to finish in early 2018.
A second stage would likely involve a larger neighbouring tower on Pitt St for affordable and social housing. More than $500 million of apartment projects are under construction or in the pipeline in South Australia and a number of new hotels are also on the drawing board or have recently been completed.
The church, built in 1965, was provisionally listed on the State Heritage Register as an “exemplar of Contemporary Gothic design” in SA.
The Australian Institute of Architects’ SA chapter has listed it as one of the state’s most nationally significant examples of 20th century architecture.
Chapter manager Nicolette Dilernia said the church had value “if you are a fan of that ’60s modernist, ecclesiastical style, but unfortunately to a lot of people it’s seen as ugly”.
“ I think the net benefit will probably outweigh what’s there now,” she said. “On balance it’s probably not a tragic loss to the architectural heritage of Adelaide.”
In April the Government asked the SA Heritage Council to remove the church’s provisional state heritage listing at Uniting Communities’ request. The council ratified this in June.
