By Christine de Kock
PREMIER Steve Bracks is backing Yarraville Community Centre officials in a campaign to save their 19th century building.
Lee Casey, spokesman for the Premier, said: “Mr Bracks met with centre management, and gave his support for the historic building being saved, and for the Community Centre to operate out of it.”
Mr Casey said the government was waiting for the Maribyrnong City Council, as the centre’s committee of management, to send a funding submission.
“The government will provide substantial funds, there is no question of that,” he said.
“The council said – based on a building report it commissioned – it’s going to cost between three and five million dollars, and those are pretty broad figures.
“I suppose council can apply for money to pay for a much more detailed assessment, to know exactly what it will cost.”
The Yarraville Community Centre has campaigned since August for the centre to be upgraded.
The building was established as a school in 1889, and the centre took over the site in 1976. An independent report commissioned by the council found the building had structural problems.
These included an unstable front wall, cracking, uneven floors and falling plaster.
The State Government owns the building.
