Upkeep at uni forces church out

THE Anglican Church has officially cut ties with student accommodation at James Cook University, one year on from the closure of St Mark’s College.

The college accommodation had been housing JCU students for almost 50 years before it was closed with the church, as trustee, unable to finance necessary upgrades for the outdated facility.

Court documents reveal the university is seeking to build a new, larger on- site accommodation facility but such a project could be some years away.

On Tuesday Townsville Supreme Court Justice David North ordered the St Mark’s College Charitable Trust be dissolved and the responsibility of the building and land be handed over to the university.

An affidavit from Anglican Bishop of North Queensland William Ray revealed the church had identified the facility was in need of an upgrade nine years ago after having no significant construction work since 1975.

Cost estimates showed it would cost $ 9 million just to bring the college up to modern standards and regulations while an upgrade to make the facility viable in the future would cost $ 15.5 million.

Demolition costs had even been estimated at $ 2.8 million but as of January 2018 the St Mark’s College Charitable Trust had little over $ 57,000 at its disposal.

Profits for the college dropped from $ 244,000 for the year 2012 to just $ 8700 in 2016.

In an affidavit, JCU deputy vicechancellor Patricia Brand said the university’s research showed an aged college without modern facilities was not competitive in the contemporary market for student accommodation.

“The research also determined that to be financially viable a college needs to have a residential capacity of at least 250 students,” Ms Brand said.