Newcastle House, also known as the ACT Weights and Measures building, is on one of the blocks slated for demolition. Photo: Claire Fenwicke.
Preparatory works for the East Lake Place plan are getting set to begin with a demolition tender out for two Causeway area sites.
One is Newcastle House, located on block 2 section 38 in Fyshwick. The other block marked is block 2 section 35 in Kingston, which is the open space behind Causeway Hall and the site of a former childcare centre.
A new tender’s called for a contractor to supervise demolition on both sites.
“The two locations … have been vacant for a number of years and identified to have hazardous materials as part of existing building structures that remain on-site, including underground storage tanks,” the document noted.
“To ensure the ongoing safety of the community, the demolition and removal of hazardous materials is warranted, to make the sites safe.”
The proposed construction schedule calls for demolition, clean-up, reinstatement and soft landscape works of the Fyshwick site to be done within 16 weeks of the contract being awarded.
The Kingston site has 20 weeks in the schedule.
The two blocks marked in blue-green – Newcastle House in the top right and behind Causeway Hall in the bottom left – are the subjects of the demolition tender. Photo: Tenders ACT.
The sites are part of the land slated for renewal as part of the East Lake Place plan.
A Suburban Land Agency spokesperson confirmed both sites had development application approval for the buildings to be removed.
“As part of the demolition works, all structures will be removed and the sites will be remediated as required,” they said.
The amended Territory Plan, which commenced on 27 September 2024, included changes to the zones and planning provisions of The Causeway Area.
It expanded the community facility zoning of the area surrounding Causeway Hall and changed the Inner South District Policy to allow for a daycare or preschool and a centrally located neighbourhood park to be built within the Causeway Hall community facility zone.
Building setback requirements for areas surrounding Causeway Hall were also added to the policy.
The Causeway Hall heritage register listing requires that any new development (within the hall’s vicinity) must not allow its “location, form and scale” to compromise its significance “by impinging on its open space setting”.
The Causeway Hall was built in 1925 and is the Causeway’s last substantial building dating back to the area’s settlement.
It was used as a picture theatre, dance hall, concert hall and boxing venue. It’s now being leased by ACT Hub and is home to theatre companies Everyman Theatre, Chaika Theatre and Free-Rain Theatre.
The Territory Plan also zones the Newcastle House site for a community facility.
According to the National Trust of Australia (ACT), Newcastle House was originally known as the ACT Weights and Measures building and opened in 1981.
It was given the ‘Newcastle’ name because there had been a plan to extend Newcastle Street beyond Dairy Flat Road and across Jerrabomberra Creek.
“When the road was not built, the building’s name became an anomaly,” a 2024 National Trust pamphlet stated.
“Designed by celebrated architect Gene Willsford, the building later housed a museum of scales, weights and petrol bowsers which was open to the public.”
The subdivision design allows for a potential visitor and cultural centre near the Jerrabomberra Wetlands entrance, and other community uses such as community gardens near the neighbouring Cargill’s Cottage and the outcrop of limestone.
Newcastle House was designed by architect Gene Willsford. Photo: Claire Fenwicke.
The limestone contains macro-fossils of corals, brachiopods, crinoids and stromatoporoid sponges that “lived on the bed of a warm shallow ocean about 420 million years ago when Canberra was located very close to the equator”.
“This is one of only two outcrops that remain visible following urban development, the other being at Acton,” a 2024 National Trust pamphlet stated.
National Trust of Australia (ACT) president Gary Kent said the limestone outcrop had a “high heritage value” and that the group felt it should be listed on the ACT Heritage Register.
“[It] needs to be protected from physical damage from any development activity nearby,” he said.
The Suburban Land Agency spokesperson confirmed neither Newcastle House nor the limestone outcrop were on the ACT Heritage Register.
“However, the limestone outcrop will be identified prior to commencement of works and will be fenced off and protected,” they said.
The tender contract award date is set for September.
