OLD SCHOOL IN HOSPITAL PLAN

A PRIVATE hospital providing 22 beds and four operating theatres has been proposed for the site of the heritage- listed former Townsville West State School at West End.

Developer the Griffin Group has lodged a development application with Townsville City Council for the project at the corner of Ingham Rd and Sturt St which could be operating by late next year or early 2019.

The $ 55 million development will be called Weststate Private Hospital.

It will deliver a hub of specialist services including orthopedics, cardiology, urology and maxillofacial surgery.

The plan is to restore and repurpose the heritage- listed building into specialist medical suites and build a five- storey private hospital on the 1600sq m site alongside the old school.

Griffin Group director Ben Griffin said the development would respect and revitalise the heritage building into a thriving health precinct with a national profile.

“A redevelopment of this site presents the opportunity to restore a history- rich building that has been under- utilised for more than a decade,” he said.

“The building has played an im- portant role as a school for a number of years and prior to this it served as a first- aid post and convalescence ward for armed forces during World War II,” Mr Griffin said.

“We are taking it back to the future.”

Mr Griffin said the old school would be tailored to support low impact services including medical consulting suites, offices and ancillary retail.

He said the entire project would provide 22 hospital beds and four operating theatres and create about 200 jobs during the construction and operational phases.

It would deliver specialist services as well as supporting services in radiology, pathology, physio- therapy and pharmaceutical services.

Mr Griffin said his group bought the site because of its strategic location and then received interest from a local consortium of health professionals.

They hope to start construction later this year.

The Griffin Group has also teamed with the Gleeson family to develop a $ 450 million project called The Hive on land surrounding the Queens Hotel in Townsville’s CBD.

It hit a setback last year when the council rejected submissions for a cultural precinct.

Mr Griffin said they were continuing to plans to develop the site and were awaiting receipt of a preliminary approval.