It’s back to square one with the old Katoomba library site.
After a two-year process labelled a “shoddy affair” or “a farce”, council has closed the expressions of interest with none of the submissions accepted.
It will now start all over again, conducting an open tender for use of the building.
The saga around the old library actually dates back to 2012, when the council’s budget for the 2012-13 financial year included a plan to convert the empty building into a multi-use community space.
In June, 2013, council sought expressions of interest for the management and use of the space. It received 14 submissions by the closing date in December, 2013.
Thirteen wanted to use the hall either on a regular basis or for a one-off casual hiring.
Only one, from Katoomba Theatre Company, sought to also manage the hall. But because its application expressed a preference for council to spend a further $380,000 for specialist theatre fit-out works, the review panel concluded it was “above and beyond the EOI assessment process”. The panel also thought KTC’s proposed business model was “high risk and based on optimistic income projections in an untested market”.
There was a further proposal received, from a loose alliance of 23 arts-connected locals, but it was submitted outside the deadline so could not be considered.
In the meantime, the building has been available for hire but in the six months to December, 2014, it had only been rented out 12 times, raising just $2,905. Council has now resolved to spend another $35,000 fitting black-out curtains and three-phase power to make it a more attractive rental proposition.
A council report on the whole affair conceded there was a “lack of clarity on what the council was seeking in the EOI process” which meant it could not validly compare the submissions.
It concluded: “The EOI process itself did not result in a viable outcome for the use and management of the facility.”
The artistic director of KTC, Larry Buttrose, addressed council on the issue, calling the report on the saga “a fiction”.
“I have a PhD in creative writing but I have never encountered a piece of writing as creative as this report,” he said.
The report said council officers had worked with KTC “to provide plans, advice and access to the hall during 2014 to assist them with preparing their submission” but Dr Buttrose said there had been no formal communication since April that year.
He called the process a “shoddy, sorry affair” which left Katoomba still without a theatre.
He also described the town square precinct where the hall is located as “a civic disgrace. An empty, windswept concrete void where there should be the buzz of community activities, arts and culture.”
Artist Ian Milliss, who was one of the 23 signatories on the alternative proposal, told the council meeting: “I think it’s time that this farce came to an end.
