THE Old Court House could be managed by a trust, similar to that administering the Old Teachers’ College.
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Northern Tablelands MP Adam Marshall said grants would be available to the trust to maintain and undertake capital improvements on the building.
“It would also be able to lease out areas of the building to [Armidale Dumaresq] Council, NERAM, Harmony Group, etc,” Mr Marshall said yesterday.
The Beardy Street Mall building had been the subject of a Lands Claim, however, that was rejected by the NSW Government in August last year.
A subsequent appeals period has just expired, leading the way for a renewed push to turn the building over for community use.
Armidale Dumaresq Mayor Herman Beyersdorf sought a roundtable meeting, to be chaired by Mr Marshall, to discuss future uses for the building.
He will be inspecting the site later this week.
Mr Marshall said a number of community groups had expressed an interest in using the space. But given its age and limited commercial capacity, there was no interest in buying the property should it be auctioned.
Mr Marshall said the community trust model was the only real way forward.
“The community would keep the building in community hands and various community groups would have access to it,” Mr Marshall said.
“The only obstacle I can see is getting everyone to agree on this model. Once agreed, I think it’s a very strong case to put to the government to allow it to proceed.”
The heritage-listed building has stood idle since the new Court House opened in Moore Street in January, 2014.
An initial suggestion was to use the building as a government one-stop shop, however, that suggestion was ruled out because of a lack of parking. It had been intended to auction the property.