Work on $17m waterfront park to start next week

VOS Construction has won the almost $17 million contract to build Devonport’s waterfront park precinct — the centrepiece of the North-West city’s bold $250 million Living City Project.

Living City is the biggest urban renewal project undertaken in regional Tasmania.

On Monday night, the Devonport City Council approved the contract to build the waterfront precinct. It will include a privately-developed hotel.

Four contractors were accepted after an expression of interest process to the second and final phase of the tender process in June.

Work is scheduled to being next week, and the waterfront precinct should be complete in spring 2021.

Devonport City Mayor Annette Rockliff said the contract would see another construction boom in the city.

She said the project was fully-funded with the Federal Government chipping in $10 million and no council borrowing would be needed

The park will increase by five times the number of plants and trees in the CBD, and link Rooke St to the edge of the Mersey River with promenades — one elevated over the railway lines.

Stage One of the project includes the construction of the building which now includes Devonport Library, paranaple arts centre, Service Tasmania, the Online Access Centre, an 800-seat convention centre and Providore Place. The process has not been without controversy, with the auditor general last week raising shortcomings in relation to the original lease agreement for Providore Place.

“Devonport City Council did not follow sound commercial and governance processes in relation to the Providore Place head lease, and did not adequately manage the relationship risk between the council and the Living City development managers,” the report said. Council acknowledged its attempts to make the lease a non-traditional co-operative shared arrangement had proved ineffectual, and created a significant amount of angst between the parties.