BELCHER’S SAGA CONTINUES TO SCAR CITY’S HEART:
MORE than 200 days have passed since the crumbling Belcher’s Corner building was due to be demolished, yet it continues to stand in the middle of Geelong’s CBD. The council-imposed deadline for the building’s demolition passed on December 31, with former tenants evacuated from the site more than a year ago due to fears the building could collapse. HARRISON TIPPET explores the long and ‘frustrating’ journey of the condemned building.
THE fractured and broken bones of Belcher’s Corner lie bare in the heart of Geelong.
A network of cracks streak up and across the cream concrete exterior of the condemned building, with once internal timber framing, steel and crumbling concrete exposed to the open air.
Windows of the building are cracked and shattered, saw-toothed souvenirs of the structural damage that led to the evacuation of tenants in August last year — and a demolition order weeks later.
Geelong continues to bustle around the broken monolith on the corner of Ryrie and Moorabool streets — veiled behind the temporary fencing — as a frustrated council continues to wait for it to be torn down.
The City of Greater Geelong issued an emergency demolition order for Belcher’s Corner in September last year, demanding it be torn down no later than December 31.
But 222 days after the demolition deadline passed, the council is still waiting for the administrator of the building to abide by its order.
“We are yet to receive a demolition plan from the administrator of the Belchers Corner building,” City of Greater Geelong director planning, design and development Gareth Smith said this week.
“The demolition order is still in place and we are continuing to liaise with the administrator to ensure these works are progressing.
“We are also impressing upon the administrator the importance of maintaining community safety at all times, including monitoring the structural integrity of the building.
“We share the community’s frustration with the apparent lack of action on this site.”
Administrator Robert Evans did not respond to the Geelong Advertiser’s request for comments regarding the demolition delay this week.
It was about 11pm on Monday, July 23 last year that tenants of the Belcher’s Corner building received phone calls notifying them they wouldn’t be able to enter the building after engineers found “severe concrete cancer” had compromised the integrity of the structure’s supporting posts.
Police were called in to close the corner of Moorabool and Ryrie streets, first taping off the building then placing barricades around the corner and on the road, causing traffic to be closed in both directions.
The decision to close the building came after concerns were raised about the structural integrity of the 1920s heritage-listed building in December 2017. Assessments eventually discovered: THE spalling (decaying) of concrete and rusting of steel columns and beams had compromised the structural integrity of the building; THE building’s basement and masonry walls supporting the footpath and road reserves along Moorabool and Ryrie streets had visible deflection and were in danger of collapse; CONCRETE cancer-riddled beams had no suitable fire resisting element, meaning they could not maintain structural adequacy or stability during a fire; and THE building’s facade was not aligned horizontally or vertically.
Dozens of businesses were locked out of the Belcher’s Corner precinct for more than a week, with council eventually issuing an evacuation order on the building on August 1. A month later an emergency demolition order was issued — with the owner’s corporation given a December 31 deadline to tear the building down.
But financial pressures for the building’s owners corporation proved too difficult, with administrator Robert Evans appointed by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal on November 30.
Of the businesses turfed from the building, some were able to relocate: T & C Nails now operates from Pakington St and tattooist The Australian Inkspot eventually reopened in Moolap after a stint of operating from a residential address.
Some weren’t as lucky, with the young business owner of Burger Johnny, Tom Grigg, seeing his insurance claim rejected by AAMI.
The 25-year-old was trying to claim compensation for loss of income after he was kicked out of the building. His business never reopened.
“We are also impressing upon the administrator the importance of maintaining community safety at all times, including monitoring the structural integrity of the building. We share the community’s frustration with the apparent lack of action on this site.”
COGG’S GARETH SMITH