Ipswich ratepayers will fund more than $20 million worth of repairs on the Venue Building in the Nicholas Street Precinct.
Parts of the building, which was formerly the old Birch, Carroll and Coyle cinema complex, is now to be demolished after mould was found extensively inside the walls.
The mould was located in a section of the building, which housed the old cinema boxes.
Ipswich councillors approved a $15 million contract variation of the project at a special council meeting on Thursday.
The remaining $5 million is likely to be in future Budgets.
Ipswich councillor Marnie Doyle says it is a disappointing setback when we’re talking about ratepayers money.
“The fact is that it’s owned by the people of Ipswich, who are heavily invested in the success of this project,” she says.
“It has been a long time coming and we’ve seen that it will provide economic benefits for Ipswich,” the Division 3 Councillor says.
Councillor Doyle says while the damage has been quite extensive, works undertaken by Hutchinson Builders haven’t been shut down due to the mould issues.
“We’ve had some slight delays while we get this variation approved through council but our builders Hutchinson are still on site and ready to move forward with the demolition work.
“We did hope to remove it through cleaning and other chemical matter but it’s demolition that’s required unfortunately,” she says.
Meanwhile, Concerns were raised in the special Ipswich Council meeting on Thursday about the time frame of when the mould became a significant issue.
Ipswich Division 2 Councillor Nicole Jonic brought up the problem before it was promptly discussed behind closed doors.
It’s understood mould became a major issue in December after being first reported to council in April.
Ipswich council is hoping to secure millions of dollars in urban renewal grants made available in the 2023 Federal Budget to help fund the repairs.
