A 108-year-old shed, historically used to store railway goods, has become a problem for the AFL as it tries to get a new stadium built for the incoming 19th club based in Tasmania.
The league has insisted a license for the team is reliant on a brand new 23,000-seat roofed stadium at Macquarie Point, in Hobart, being constructed before the team begins play in 2028.
However the ABC reports a stumbling block has emerged in the form of a shed, constructed around 1915, which has received provisional heritage listing by the Tasmanian Heritage Council.
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The Macquarie Point Development Corporation, the owners of the shed, have 21 days to respond before public submissions can be made and then the local council will determine whether the listing is made final.
This is problematic because the shed lies directly where the stadium is planned to be built – and the initial plans involved relocating the shed to a separate area of the waterfront, 110 metres away, before the shed was removed from the plans altogether.
But one of the primary elements of the shed’s heritage listing is its location.
“Moving the building effectively removes a significant part of its heritage significance,” Tasmanian architect Mat Hinds told the ABC.
“It’s lasted more than 100 years as a usable structure on that site. It’s meaningful in that place, and that’s why the listing is so compelling.”
The shed is currently used as an events space though a $5 million upgrade planned for last year did not occur.
Part of the $715 million funding for the stadium is assigned to demolition work.
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