VALUE IN OUR HERITAGE

THE efforts of both the Gold Coast City Council and State Government to preserve the iconic Old Burleigh Arcade is much needed.

Minister for Planning Cameron Dick yesterday approved the council’s request for a temporary local planning instrument to stop demolition of the building because it had heritage value.

Sydney-based property development company Weiya Holdings bought the site for $18.5 million and intended to replace the building with a luxury 14-level apartment tower and new arcade. When the story broke, Weiya development manager Wei Wang said the arcade was an iconic building but it was “out of its day”.

The news caught Burleigh business owners and residents by surprise. One, Teresa Worthington, the owner of Burleigh institution Montezuma’s Mexican Restaurant, said she opened the Gold Coast Bulletin to learn she would be out of a home. Ms Worthington has owned the restaurant for 35 of the 41 years it has been in the arcade.

Planning chair Cameron Caldwell last week said council had yet to receive any development applications.

The Gold Coast does not have a great record for preserving anything with heritage value. One only has to remember the uproar surrounding the demolition of the Miami Ice building in 2013.

The historic Coast landmark, which appeared on John Farnham’s Two Strong Hearts music video, was built in 1947 using two former army huts. Similarly, the city lost other icons such as the Surfers Paradise Hotel, its first motel, the El Dorado, and even Magic Mountain, originally a chairlift in 1962.

The city should also keep its eye on the fate of other age-old buildings such as the Queen St Convenience Store, which has been a Southport icon for about 125 years. It was sold for $1 million with plans to replace it with high-density accommodation, but a grassroots campaign to preserve the 19th-century building has delayed demolition.

When the Miami Ice building was demolished in November 2013, the Bulletin challenged the council to release a statement about its commitment to preserving the city’s heritage. We said at the time we would not be holding our breath – and it is just as well we didn’t.

Its stance this month, albeit late, is welcome, and needed. Because, as we have said before, this city does not want its lasting legacy to be that we have no legacy at all.