Culture destroyed while debate rages

SOME 15 years ago I was assisting the officers of the Department of Heritage in identifying all the Tasmanian works of the nationally significant architect Esmond Dorney. The purpose was to place them on the Heritage Register. Changes within Heritage Tasmania since have left this process incomplete.

While at the moment there is much debate about the removal of listings from the register, there are buildings, of particular significance to our state and national architectural heritage, which, as we argue, are being demolished or destroyed by ill-considered renovation because of a hiatus in new listings. This especially relates to 20th century archi- tecture, which is, disturbingly, sparsely represented on the register.

Driving through Lindisfarne on Friday I noticed to my great concern that recent alterations to the old Motel Jason had destroyed the previous Esmond Dorney facade.

Over the past few years I have seen too many J.H.E. Dorney buildings thoughtlessly destroyed without due consideration of their state and national significance. Though some of his work is listed, it is by no means a comprehensive coverage of the Tasmanian work. This cultural devastation continues while we fiddle about and argue about delistings.

For future generations of Australians it is important that we recognise that 20th Century Modernism is of equal importance to earlier eras of built heritage. The opportunity to conserve its most important elements is passing us by.

A similar attitude saw far too much of our historic heritage destroyed last century.

Even cultural treasures such as Salamanca and Battery Point were nearly lost in a period demonstrating a comparable lack of breadth of cultural vision. We must identify relevant priorities to prevent such cultural vandalism occurring again under our watch.