La Trobe MP Jason Wood, Emerald College principal Wayne Burgess, with students Olivia Rundle, Matilda Henley-Johnstone and Lianna Dooley are calling for answers over delays in the school’s performing arts centre. 43389 Picture: Nigel Clements
By Tania Martin
EMERALD College’s long-awaited performing arts centre faces a $500,000 shortfall and is in doubt after more than three years.
Cash for the project was promised in the lead-up to the 2007 Federal Government elections but the school is still waiting to turn the first sod on the project.
In 2008, the Mail reported in its story, Cheers for funds, that the $2.5 million commitment would be funded under the 2008-09 budget.
But two years on, the school is still waiting for the project to start.
Principal Wayne Burgess said there just seemed to be one delay after the other.
He said the Federal Government had only handed over $100,000 of the promised cash and that had all gone into redesigning the project.
The remaining cash is currently available to the school but with the shortfall, it’s uncertain when construction could begin.
Mr Burgess said the continued delays had forced the school to reduce the size of the performing arts centre.
He said without the redesigns the project would have a shortfall of more than $1 million.
Mr Burgess said despite the changes, there was still a $500,000 gap between the project funding and the actual costs.
The original plans included 300 permanent seats, a flat 20-metre by 12-metre stage, with an option to turn some of the flat stage area into temporary seating if needed.
However, the centre will now only have the capacity to hold 220 permanent seats and the backstage area had to be reduced by 40 per cent.
“Tenders come out this week but we don’t know if we can start … all indications show we won’t have enough money and the longer we wait, the more prices will go up,” Mr Burgess said.
La Trobe MP Jason Wood said this was just another day in Kevin Rudd’s funding debacle.
“It should have been a great news story for the opening of the arts centre but instead it’s just another disaster,” he said.
A Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development spokesman said the government had only been advised of the shortfall after signing the contacts in June last year.
He said the government had advised the school in August they needed to seek further funding from other sources such as local council, State Government and other community stakeholders.
“The government remains committed to working with Emerald College to deliver its share of funding for the performing arts centre,” the spokesman said.
