Mr WOOD - 2015-12-01
Can you tell us how much money has been spent so far on the Chan Building? What is happening to the communications sections? How much will it cost to shift the communications? Where will it go? Why is it being moved? Is the cost of the move included in the $18.3m project?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his question. As everyone knows, the project to repurpose the Chan Building has not changed since the budget was announced, and it is $18.3m. The Department of Infrastructure has provided me an updated expenditure report. So far money has been allocated to risk management and the removal of asbestos from the building, as well as the design tender process. As people may know, that was announced last night by the Chief Minister and me.
I encourage all members to go to my Facebook page, or the Chief Minister’s, to look at the designs. It is a wonderful project and the chair, Mr Allan Myers AO QC, is reported as saying it is an inspired initiative.
To answer the member’s question, the total value of expenditure so far is $93 000, which is less than 0.05% of the total budget. It is right on budget. The repurposing of the Chan project design brief was to redevelop the project into a dedicated, world-class exhibition space for the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, with public amenities such as a cafe and retail space. The new gallery will provide a full program of exhibitions, including the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards, national touring exhibitions and MAGNT’s extensive collection of contemporary Indigenous and Southeast Asian art and cultural materials. In the repurposing of the Chan project there are no plans to relocate the communications and NTG data facility from where it is now, in the basement of the Chan Building.
The Department of Corporate and Information Services has been consulted since the inception of this project. It will remain responsible for the basement and parts of the ground floor of the Chan Building which house the NTG data centre operations. There is, however, a separate data facility planned at the Northern Territory Archives Service, which will be the northern repository and emergency data recovery centre; in other words, it will be a backup. This facility at the NT Archives has a separate approved budget. It is a separate project and will not take the place of the current NTG communications facilities in the Chan Building.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his question. As everyone knows, the project to repurpose the Chan Building has not changed since the budget was announced, and it is $18.3m. The Department of Infrastructure has provided me an updated expenditure report. So far money has been allocated to risk management and the removal of asbestos from the building, as well as the design tender process. As people may know, that was announced last night by the Chief Minister and me.
I encourage all members to go to my Facebook page, or the Chief Minister’s, to look at the designs. It is a wonderful project and the chair, Mr Allan Myers AO QC, is reported as saying it is an inspired initiative.
To answer the member’s question, the total value of expenditure so far is $93 000, which is less than 0.05% of the total budget. It is right on budget. The repurposing of the Chan project design brief was to redevelop the project into a dedicated, world-class exhibition space for the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, with public amenities such as a cafe and retail space. The new gallery will provide a full program of exhibitions, including the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards, national touring exhibitions and MAGNT’s extensive collection of contemporary Indigenous and Southeast Asian art and cultural materials. In the repurposing of the Chan project there are no plans to relocate the communications and NTG data facility from where it is now, in the basement of the Chan Building.
The Department of Corporate and Information Services has been consulted since the inception of this project. It will remain responsible for the basement and parts of the ground floor of the Chan Building which house the NTG data centre operations. There is, however, a separate data facility planned at the Northern Territory Archives Service, which will be the northern repository and emergency data recovery centre; in other words, it will be a backup. This facility at the NT Archives has a separate approved budget. It is a separate project and will not take the place of the current NTG communications facilities in the Chan Building.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016