Add Category
A drawn-out bid to refurbish one of Townsville's key tourism attractions have been abandoned, with authorities deciding the Reef HQ aquarium needs to be demolished entirely.
Key points:
- Reef HQ Aquarium will be rebuilt entirely
- The rebuild will take three years longer than a refurbishment
- The Reef Authority says starting from scratch offers taxpayers better value for money
Residents had been anticipating the reopening of the much-loved aquarium in 2023 after it was closed in February 2021.
But the re-build will push back its return to 2026.
The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority said the delay would allow the construction of "a jewel in Townsville's tourism crown".
The Reef Authority's general manager for major projects, Ian Walker, said the facility was 35 years old.
"As we've gotten into the site we've discovered greater risks," Mr Walker said.
"It's a bit like an old Queenslander – you start changing a fuse and then all of a sudden you need to re-wire the whole house."
A number of sharks, fish and other marine life have already been relocated to SeaWorld, Billabong Sanctuary and the Australian Institute of Marine Science.
'Better' to start fresh
The Reef Authority said the cost of the taxpayer-funded rebuild wouldn't be known until detailed planning was completed by the middle of next year.
The upgrade has been allocated $80 million federal cash so far.
"In the interests of best use of funding, it's better to establish a new building than a patchwork of old and new," Mr Walker said.
He hoped the new build would present more opportunities for sustainability and digital offerings.
"We'll end up having a five or six-star green building, which will really provide an exemplar around how we design and build buildings in north Queensland," he said.
The region's peak tourism industry body, Townsville Enterprise, said residents and tourists would be understandably disappointed by the delay.
Townsville Enterprise marketing director Lisa Woolfe said her organisation was working with Reef HQ to look at outreach programs and ways the community could still have a connection with Reef HQ, even with the doors closed.
"I don't see that it [longer closure] is going to necessarily have a major impact on the number of visitors coming into our region," Ms Woolfe said.
The Reef Authority said jobs at the aquarium wouldn't be cut during the build, which was expected to be slowed down by labour and supply chain challenges in the construction industry.