ELECTED members have raised concerns over the viability of programs at the $15.5 million Gawler Civic Centre, with one councillor saying there is more than the COVID-19 pandemic to blame.
At their ordinary meeting last Tuesday, elected members discussed an update report on the civic centre’s operations between April and June.
During the reported time frame, many of the building’s services were closed or reduced, with the council conceding they would likely not achieve cost recovery in the short to medium term.
Most concerning for elected members though was the Ninna Marni Kadlitiya Café, which closed at the onset of the pandemic and is yet to reopen.
According to a report tabled at the meeting, the café’s operators Red Centre Enterprises has told council it is still financially unviable to reopen.
Councillor Cody Davies said it showed the café, situated directly inside the centre’s main doors, was not “on the firmest footing to begin with”.
“It is true that COVID-19 has impacted us all, but the fact they’re struggling to reopen shows maybe it wasn’t on the firmest footing to begin with,” he said.
“That is something that’s worth making sure we can get working.”
The civic centre was officially opened on April 7, 2019 and was finished $1 million over budget.
Council was forced to close the building from March 25 until June 1 due to the pandemic, with the Gawler library opening slightly earlier, on May 11.
Throughout the shutdown, council staff used the building as a separate office space to spread the location of its workers in-line with social distancing requirements.
Long-time critic of the project councillor Ian Tooley said council could not blame all of the building’s problems on the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I think the report covers a lot of areas and tries to put a healthy spin on a failing enterprise,” he said.
“I can understand why we want to project it that way, but I don’t think we can really hang all of the underperformance on COVID-19.
“This was massively overblow in its budget and is a continual cost to us. People might say this is why Gawler Council’s rates are so high.”
In defence of the civic centre’s viability, councillor Diane Fraser said the building was “never meant to be a huge money-making concern”.
“This report is about April through to June, which is right in the middle of COVID and it has had a huge impact on the results,” she said.
“The civic centre was built for the community and was never meant to be a huge money-making concern.
“Obviously we’ve got room for improvement, but that’s the same with any business. Whilst there is room for improvement, I don’t think it’s done too bad considering COVID.”
