• Extract from Town Hall reference Group Reprt to Yarra Counci (15/11/00)
• FRA's submission tothe Reference Group (22/10/00)
• Motions from public meeting on the Town Hall (15/6/00)

OPTIONS ANALYSIS BASED ON CONSULTATIONS AND ASSESSMENTS
 
 

STATEMENT OF OPTIONS

3.1 The Fitzroy Town Hall Precinct Group has examined five options for the future use of the Fitzroy Town Hall. These are 

1. Use as an Arts House 
2. Institutional use
3. Commercial use 
4. Mixed use comprising the Arts House and commercial uses in association with municipal and community uses
5. Continue the current maintenance program.

3.2 A sixth option to turn the Town Hall into a boutique hotel was rejected at the outset as an inappropriate use of the building and inconsistent with community views.

3.3 After considering community views, the Arts House option was expanded to include community use of the heritage spaces and some offices as meeting rooms. The fourth option, a mixed use of Arts House, commercial rental, municipal uses and community uses was created as a result of the community consultation and the deliberations of the Precinct Group. 
 
 

RECOMMENDATION

The Precinct Group recommends Option 4 - a Mix of Uses for the Fitzroy Town Hall. This would require a grant from the Community Support Fund of $2 million matched by funds from the City of Yarra or other philanthropic or heritage sources. This recommendation is based on a detailed analysis of the financial, municipal and community impacts of each of these options,
 
 

THE COMPONENTS OF A MIXED USE FACILITY

3.4 The Town Hall Precinct Group recommends that the Town Hall, which has a space of approximately 2000 square metres, be put to a mix of uses. These are:

The Arts House 
3.5 This would take up a space of around 500 square metres. It is expected that a permanent rental market exists for approximately 10 externally funded Arts groups, on average requiring 50 square metres on average. This is as proposed in the review conducted by the Council in 1998. These tenants would be permanent. They would pay less than commercial rent because of their willingness to work in facilities which have not been developed to full commercial standards. The area they would occupy would cost less to refurbish. Fitout would be at the cost to the tenants.

 A municipal presence
3.6 This would restore a local municipal service interface for North Fitzroy and North Carlton that was lost at amalgamation. It would give the building a second group of permanent tenants and return it to “living building” status. It would make it much easier for occasional users, such as community groups, to have access to the building at all hours. Restoring parts of the building to municipal functions would have a higher cost than the Arts House function, as the building standards would need to meet the appropriate levels.

3.7 Opening up the building for municipal use would also provide council with the opportunity to use some of the floor space for municipal administration or services.
 

Events 
3.8 These have been proposed as performance, exhibitions, displays, product launches, banquets, graduations, debuts, meetings and conferences for customers across Melbourne as well as events and activities for the local Yarra community.

3.9 The spaces that lend themselves to these functions include the main hall and support spaces, the reading room and support spaces, the heritage civic spaces on the first floor, and some of the office space that could be used for conventions and meeting rooms. There are commercial operators who are contracted by other councils to become the venue operators for such spaces. The contract usually provides for a given number of community functions at no cost or at cost each year. The community access is built into the contract.
 

Commercial office rental
3.10 There is office space on both levels of the building that could be made available for rental if any or all of the office space was not required for municipal purposes. This use would also assist in providing a living permanent presence and an income stream. There is strong community support for council to seek external sources of income from the building. At both the open meeting at the Town Hall open day, and in submissions, people argued that Council should seek to develop an income stream from some of the space in the building.
 

Heritage use
3.11 Because of the heritage rating of parts of the building, it has also been proposed that part of the building be given over to use as a museum or heritage collection. The Precinct Group has not established that there is an immediate source of funds for such a use as part of the mix. However should council determine on this option then further work should be considered on this aspect of the mix of uses. 
 

RATIONALE FOR MIXED USE FACILITY

Financial
3.12 The renovations of the Fitzroy Town Hall have been costed by the architects at:
-    $5.2 million for use as an Arts House
- $5.5 million for mixed use 
- $6 million for institutional 
- $6 million for commercial use
- $1.5 million for the maintenance of the fabric of the building. This last estimate by Burns Bridge is subject to refinement since it is not based on specific costings sought by Council from Sinclair Knight Mertz on previous concept designs. 

3.13 The financial cost of restoration and renovation is the single main constraint to be considered by council. Operational inflows and outflows are relatively insignificant given the capital cost requirements.

3.14 The estimates include the original architect’s estimates of around $900,000 to provide disabled access to the building in the form of lifts.

3.15 Only some of the proposed options have the capacity to attract support funding from the Community Support Fund (CSF) of the Victorian Government. These are use as an Arts House and Community use. These must remain the dominant uses of the building if the CSF funding is to be available. It is estimated that approximately $2 million dollars could be available from the fund to help pay for the renovation.

3.16 As requested by Council each of the five options was assessed to establish the Net Present Value. Community Support Fund contributions at $2 million have been included for the Arts House and Mixed Use options. With the Mixed Use option, CSF funding is not available for that part of the building used for municipal use. 

3.17 All Net Present Values are negative for both ten year and fifteen year terms. The values in $millions for each of the five options are:
 

Option                   10 Year Period                15 Year Period
 

1.  Arts House only

                                   -3.3                            -3.33

2. Institutional Use with limited public access

                                 - 4.9                            -4.5 

3.  Full commercial Use

                               - 5.1                             -4.7

4. Mixed Use including notional rent from council

                               - 3.5                            -3.36

4a.  Mixed Use including no rent from council

                               - 3.79                           - 3.75 
 

4b.  Mixed use with events and meetings arranged by an external venue operator

tbc 
tbc

5. Continue the current maintenance program

                               - 2.3                             - 2.5

3.18 Once the financial analysis was completed, the Precinct Group determined that, given the size of the negative values, the only options that should be considered as financially responsible are Options 1 and 4. 

3.19 Over a 15 year period they differ by only $30,000 or $2000 per annum. Each of these also has the capacity to attract Community Support Funding for the restoration of the building, as long as the municipal function is kept to a minor part of the uses. 

3.20 The Precinct Group recommends that Council must seek to balance the demand for community use of the space with use of space for commercial office rental. At the levels of commercial use, proposed in the Burns Bridge analysis, the Precinct Group understands that an application for a grant from the Community Support Fund would not be put at risk. The Precinct Group has held preliminary discussions with venue operators who are directly employed by councils to manage their venues for events, displays. We have also spoken to commercial operators who have successfully tendered to run some of the more high profile civic venues such as the Ivanhoe Centre, the Camberwell Centre and te Melbourne Town Hall. While the question of how the centre will be managed is a matter to be resolved by council, those who have chosen the external path advise that it was because of superior financial returns and therefore less drain on council funds.

3.21 The Precinct Group recognises that this financial analysis does not consider the cost of funds should the Council have to borrow the money for its financial contribution to the restoration.

3.22 The cost to the City of Yarra for the restoration of the Fitzroy Town Hall over a period of 15 years amounts to $3.3 million for an Arts House only option or $3.5 million for the mixed use option, plus the cost of funds. 

3.23 However if Council was to decide to “do nothing” at this time it must recognise that this also has a cost. It is estimated to involve an initial capital cost of $1.5 million. An annual allowance is made of $100,000 for maintenance and security, which is combined with the capital outlay to derive an amount of $2.5 million in present day values over a 15 year period.

3.24 On financial grounds alone, the Precinct Group has excluded further consideration of Options 2 and 3. Neither option attracts Community Support Funding so the net present values range from $4.9 million to $5.1 million over 10 years and $4.5 million to $4.7 million over 15 years.
 

Benefits for the whole of Yarra
3.25 The Mixed Use option has a number of benefits for the whole of Yarra. It will give:
­ a significant improvement to the City’s profile as home to the Arts Community 
­ return the Yarra community’s access to the building
­ provide access to the only intact example of nineteenth century civic architecture for a wide range of events and activities
­ improve the potential for Yarra to attract philanthropic and heritage funding for one of its facilities
­ give the Yarra community great pride in the restoration of one of inner Melbourne’s finest buildings 
­ allow Yarra to act as host to a regional base of customers.
 

Promoting living buildings
3.26 A “living” building is one to which people have ease of access because there are permanent
residents in the building. It is also one that houses functions that attract people.

3.27 All options provide for the restoration of a living building. However Options 2 and 3 restrict or remove community access to the building as well as being the most expensive options. Only Options 1 and 4 provides the basis for restoring the Town Hall to a living community building.

3.28 We have received a number of submissions that indicate that the presence of Arts House groups would generate the sort of people traffic that is needed to restore a living building to the local community. 

3.29 The permanent presence of a municipal service centre or municipal functions would also enable this to occur. 

3.30 The establishment of a permanent presence improves access to the building for occasional users. 

3.31 The current library facilities, which are available for community use, are difficult to access after hours of library opening. The community members of the Precinct Group and submissions from the local community have stressed the need for a use of the building that will allow them ease of access after office hours for community meetings and functions.
 

The Needs of Local Communities
3.32 The needs of local communities have been identified to the Precinct Group as:

­ Access to municipal services, particularly for payments of rates and fines, planning applications and consultations with council officers. Those without private transport have to go into the city and then out to Richmond to be able to access their “local” government services. Access to the Collingwood offices is also difficult.

­ Spaces for community meetings and events. It has not been possible to quantify the amount of this unmet demand. Council holds the records of the hire of the Hall in the year prior to its closure.  The hall had a high level of use. There have been requests from more than a dozen groups in the past two years for community access to the building.

3.33 The development of a local access point to municipal services is an unmet need of the local community. Local councillors have to meet their constituents in local coffee shops when the library is closed.
 

Protecting Neighbourhood Character 
Car parking
3.34 The Town Hall precinct is in the centre of a residential area. As the civic centre of the old
Fitzroy council it housed approximately 200 staff. Many parked in the neighbourhood. This carparking demand ceased with the closure of the municipal offices.  Opening up the building has the potential to reinstate severe demands on car parking spaces in the neighbourhood. The Precinct Group has analysed the car parking demands of each of the options. The spaces required for the Town Hall events are 129 spaces at full capacity.

3.35 For each of the options the potential total demands over a 24 hour period but not all at the same time are:
­ Option 1  101 spaces
­ Option 2 No figures available as number of potential students and staff unknown
­ Option 3 179 spaces
­ Option 4 124 spaces
­ Option 5 no demand additional to the current situation

3.36 These spaces would require changes to the on street parking regulations in the neighbourhood. The council would need to assess the willingness of the local community to trade off the increased demand for car parking as a result of the reopening of the Town Hall with the revived access it gives to the local community.

3.37 The alternative is to encourage some commercial car park development in the vicinity. This would have to be at the cost of the users of the building.

3.38 The Arts House option requires the lowest demand for car parking spaces. However the need for an extra 23 spaces to meet the demands of the mixed use option has to be balanced against the wider access provided for a range of activities and uses of the building.

3.39 The Precinct Group acknowledges that the Council will need to develop a car parking strategy in consultation with the local community no matter which option is selected.

Security
3.40 Evidence has been provided of an increasing security problem with the unused Town Hall. The front steps and colonnade have become a meeting place for people exhibiting anti social behaviour. The presence of the Police Station at the rear of the Town Hall does not appear to have stopped this activity although the police can be quick to act when anti social behaviour by loiterers occurs.

3.41 The local community are keen to see the Town Hall restored to life as they believe this loitering will disappear as a result.
 

ANALYSIS OF REJECTED OPTIONS

Financial analysis
3.42 Option 2 – Institutional Use and Option 3 – Commercial Use, were originally considered as possible options because of the anticipated income from rent or lease of the building. However the capital cost of refurbishment far outweighs any income flows from rental or leasing.

3.43 Adoption of option 2 or 3 would preclude the council from applying for Community Support Funding for $2 million for the restoration. 

3.44 Option 5, the Maintenance of the Current Position was rejected because the Council as owner and custodian of the Fitzroy Town Hall would still be required to expend funds to upkeep the fabric of the building. Furthermore, a maintenance function would merely defer essential restoration required to maintain the building’s heritage status. Delays in restoration may also jeopardise the Community Support Fund application and would certainly increase the cost of restoration.

3.45 The Net Present Value of Option 5, at $$2.3 million over 10 years and $2.5 million over 15 years is lower than Options 1 and 4 but offers no improvement in community benefit or access.

3.46 Option 1, the Arts House option, was proposed in the late nineties and a Community Support Fund Application was submitted at that time to assist the funding of the restoration. This option in cost terms is almost indistinguishable to the mixed use option. But it offers less than Option 4 to the local community in that there is no municipal presence and no proposed permanent commercial letting of office spaces.
 

 Whole of Yarra Benefits
3.47 Options 1 and 4 offer benefits to the whole of Yarra. 

3.48 Option 5 would ensure that the Yarra community would continue to be denied access to the building. 

3.49 Options 2 and 3 devolve management of the building to an institution or commercial developer and as such would severely limit community access. 
 

Promoting Living Buildings
3.50 All of the Options 1- 4 have the capacity to return the Fitzroy Town Hall to “living building status.”

3.51 Options 1, 2 and 3 are less attractive in that they offer more restricted access than Option 4. Option 1, the Arts House function, restores permanent tenants to the building. However, it limits the function and type of tenants for only a small financial benefit.
 

The Needs of the Local Communities 
3.52 A major criticism of the local community to the Arts House function proposal of 1998 was that it continued to prohibit the community access. Option 1 has now been expanded to include community use. The assumption is that the performance and display spaces are rentable for community uses at the same rate as Option 4. 

3.53 Option 4 provides the possibility of some restoration of local municipal services to the Fitzroy community.

3.54 Neither Options 2,3 or 5 improve the capacity of the building to be used to meet local community needs.

Protecting Neighbourhood Character
3.55 Option 1 places the least demand for car parking of all options and improves security of the building through a permanent tenancy.

3.56 Option 1 would therefore be preferred by those who seek the lowest cost and least impact on local amenity.

3.57 However with a minor increase in cost and an increase of around 20 car parking spaces Option 4 delivers a greater mix of uses to benefit the local community. 

3.58 Option 5 would have the least impact on demand for car parking in neighbouring streets. However, keeping most of the building closed creates problems of security and anti social behaviour that have already been experienced by the building’s neighbours.

3.59 Option 2 and 3 have the greatest demands in terms of car parking and therefore the greatest impact on neighbourhood amenity.

 SUMMARY OF OPTIONS

3.60 Options 2 and 3 are ruled out on financial grounds.

3.61 Option 5 is ruled out on benefits to the whole of Yarra and the local communities.

3.62 There are only marginal differences between Options 1 and 4.

3.63 Option 4 is recommended by the Precinct Group because it provides for the greater mix of functions, allows for the broadest access to the building, provides the best chance of restoring it to a living building and provides the possibility of restoring some municipal services to the building.
 
 

[end of extract - 15/11/00]

FRA is pleased this opportunity has arisen to re-look at the future uses of the Town Hall and to consult the community widely. The town hall has been effectively closed to the public since a decision taken by unelected Commissioners to surreptitiously take services away in 1994/5. 

These were the same Commissioners who tried to close the Fitzroy swimming pool. The only difference is that the pool decision was immediately apparent in its effects whereas it has taken the community several years to fully appreciate the effect of the Town Hall's closure. These include: 

• lack of a vital municipal focus in this part of the city - no access to meeting rooms, no ability to meet Councillors locally except in cafes, and 
• constant trekking to Richmond Town Hall for almost every municipal service or need.

FRA believes the most important opportunity to arise out of the Fitzroy Town Hall Precinct Reference Group process is to address the issues of:

• return of public access to the Town Hall's facilities (meeting rooms, etc) and 
• location of some Council services there in addition to the library. 

Our preferred is the municipal/community use option, which is set out in the next section. FRA understands that unless the majority of Yarra Councillors agree with and share this vision for the Town Hall, it could effectively be lost to community use through long term lease of the major part of the building to a commercial organisation or institution; options which are also before the Reference Group for investigation. 

Financial responsibility

FRA notes the financial responsibility requirement of the Terms of Reference and believes that a mix of uses is the most appropriate to meeting this - 
(1) Municipal offices and community access to public spaces in the building for the residents of northern Yarra, 
(2) any residual space after the above has been satisfied available for 

• offices for Arts and Community groups and 
• commercial rental

Financial responsibility suggests two things to FRA. It means adopting the option that is likely to best meet the community's needs in their entirety. It does not mean simply seeking a "commercial" rental for the whole building, especially if this would deny the city the ability to satisfy social needs through access to the Town Hall. 

It also means making the best use of council's properties - we believe rented accomodation for Council staff should not be used in preference to the Town Hall, which Council already owns. Relevant parts of the building, to be identified by the Reference Group, should again be utilised as a rent-free location for some of the municipality's staff. It would be appropriate for providing people-oriented services many of which require decentralised delivery points and proximity to their client base.

Providing benefits for the whole of Yarra

FRA believes that the residents of the former municipality of Fitzroy (including North Fitzroy and North Carlton) have invested in community facilities through their rates over a long period, and should entitled to continued access to their own Town Hall as a vital centre of community life, activity and identity. 

Northern Yarra is undersupplied with the kind of facilities that the Town Hall can ideally provide. If Municipal staff are relocated there they will be able to provide services to the whole of Yarra. For example the staff currently at 239 Brunswick Street would be able to meet and advise residents from throughout the City, whether in person, by phone or (increasingly perhaps) by electronic means.

FRA understands that Municipal facilities elsewhere in the City of Yarra are close to full utilisation, and the Fitzroy Town Hall should be available to meet needs that arise anywhere in the City. The Town Hall's usage by all Yarra residents and businesses should be promoted by Council.

Protecting neighbourhood character and heritage factors

The return of Municipal functions will protect neighbourhood character - the Town Hall has been thus used for over a hundred years. 

Council's June 1996 resolutions recognised the unique place of Fitzroy Town Hall as a heritage municipal building. The municipal/community model is the one most consistent  with heritage values of the building. The others are likely to require more intrusive alterations to the building's fabric.

In Summary

In FRA's view the municipal/community option can be said to best satisfy the Reference Group's Terms of Reference described in the Council resolution of 29/8/00.

Geoff Barbour
President
22/10/00

Motions unanimously adopted at public meeting on the Fitzroy Town Hall 15/6/00

(A) This meeting calls on the City of Yarra as a matter of urgency to embark on the next stage of its formally adopted Master Plan for upgrading the infrastructure of the Fitzroy Town Hall by utilising loan funds to be repaid in a later Budget or other suitable means rather than locking up the Town Hall for an indefinite period, leaving it derelict, deteriorating and at risk of serious damage. This recommended action will: 

• Ensure that as soon as possible the Town Hall is again available to the community for community, used by community groups and if feasible by some Council services 
• Safeguard this city's foremost heritage building listed on the Register of the National Estate, acknowledging Council's responsibility for its proper care and maintenance
• Honour commitments made to the Fitzroy community as part of a long process of public consultation about retaining the building as a public facility
• Maintain this symbol of local government and civic pride as an important constituent part of the City of Yarra

• Funding the next stage of the Master Plan for upgrading the infrastructure of the Town Hall
• A process for ensuring community input into the development of any future proposals for the building  Ways of ensuring continued access to its facilities
• Ways of ensuring that future non-Council uses are revenue-neutral to the City

Fitzroy Residents' Association believes we are in real danger of losing the Town Hall for good! A locked up building is prone to damage and vandalism - look at the fire last week started by intruders in the old Russell St Police Headquarters. And abandoned buildings deteriorate quickly, making eventual restoration even more costly. 

We welcome the Mayor, John Phillip's offer to meet with the community to discuss what the future role of the Town Hall will be, but Fitzroy must not be left with a dead heart while those talks take place. I know Council must set priorities for spending, but the City's budget is robust enough to cope with finding this small increase in expenditure whether through loans or otherwise. A realisation of the building at 239 Brunswick St will contribute to revitalising the Town Hall in two ways - by freeing up money for the work and by the location of staff currently in that building into the Town Hall when work is completed 

I urge Councillors to change their minds and include a commitment in the Budget which will keep the ball rolling on this important project. Timing may in fact mean that less is actually required to be spent than has been estimated in the 2000/01 year. Concerned Fitzroy community members will attend the Finance Committee where the budget will be voted on in order to address the Committee further on these points. 

Geoff Barbour 
President 
20/6/00