[COM] Victoria Square Upgrade - $24m

[talrok]

Forget about Vic Square .. I reckon we make our own Fed Square or Marin Place between Casino, Parliament and Festival Centre .... call it Festival Square (or Festival Place) ... its a great area, great location, has good views of oval, river, city, casino .. its slightly tucked away so you don't have rev heads potentially running over young children and its within easy reach of transport (train station, trams, buses) .. its near some of our top class hotels so good for tourists. i think this would be a perfect place .. you would introduce cafe's, restaurants, big tv screens, stages etc. and that could then lead into a bigger development down the track along the banks of the river as we all keep saying should be done. Its not to copy Melbourne, but they really have utilised their river/city area so well .. plus, we are very similar in terms of that city .. similar city grid, adjacent to a brown river ...
This would be a place we could all go to watch sporting events such as soccer, cricket, AFL finals etc ... Vic Square feels a little too open and barren and is surrounded by too many roads ..

[Omicron]

I think a properly-designed Victoria Square would ultimately be a more successful project, assuming equal design talent and money lavished upon both sites (how optimistic of me). So close to Gouger Street, right in the middle of King William St., next to the Central Markets, in the shadows of our tallest buildings - one just does not find quite so impressive a location remaining relatively underutilised and unassuming these days. The potential is limitless, especially with the scope for enhancing the entire surrounding environment in both a population and a construction sense without infringing on the Square's boundaries.

The problem, though, is that I don't think a design currently exists that is able to fully tackle the problem of Victoria Square's sheer size and the relative lack of sustained activity in its southern half. How do you maintain interest to the individual with such a broad, flat expanse - cut off from Gouger Street by court buildings on both corners, cut off from the Markets by a hotel, cut off from the surrounding footpaths? Not only do we have to create smaller spaces within (or the impression thereof), we have to maintain the Square's useablity for larger numbers of people. It's undoubtedly a challenge, but I think that if it could be done, it would surpass whatever we could realistically achieve with the Torrens riverfront/plaza in its current form.

[vision]
However, and it's a very big however, were Parliament House to be incorporated into a substantial redevelopment of the Casino/Festival Plaza/Riverfront then things might be different indeed. In much the same way as the Sir Samuel Way building is wasted on its current function, so too is Parliament House (to a lesser extent, mind you). It's clear that the Government and Opposition have long outgrown Uncle Tom's Cabin - it's really not that big a building at all and is fundamentally flawed in its ability to deliver sufficient office space, meeting areas, decent sound quality, accessibility, et. al. Not even the Premier's office is there these days.

The return to the people of the Parliament would enable the building to merge with its surrounds to form a continuous, usable entertainment space from the Casino through to North Terrace and King William St and out towards the river, without the disjointedness that currently exists. A boutique hotel in the mould of the Treasury Building, perhaps? An upscale retail development like GPO developments in other states? An offshoot of the Convention Centre with a Town Hall-esque atmosphere? No matter - at least then the area can be viewed as an entertainment precinct in its entirety rather than the half-hearted approach that would have to be taken if Parliament House remained with its current function and some sort of gathering space popped up nearby.
[/vision]

Victoria Square isn't quite so bound. It's easy enough to maintain traffic flow to the major thoroughfares if this is deemed necessary, while still allowing for a vast area to be devoted to pedestrian activity. In effect, it's all but a clean slate, and it's such a shame that the expense of designing and redeveloping a public square will not be enthusiastically pursued by architects with more financially-attractive tenders to consider. If there were to be apartment buildings constructed on the site (read: a money-making venture), I guarantee you we'd have a marvellous solution by now; not that I'm advocating such a project, but it is cause for finding a sound economic argument amidst the calls for redevelopment and grandiose spending.

[joshzxzx]

I was wondering if any one heard about the counsil approving a 15 story ferris wheek for victoria square??

I heard it on Nova this morning..

[Wayno]

I was wondering if any one heard about the counsil approving a 15 story ferris wheek for victoria square??

I heard it on Nova this morning..

hilarious...

[Wayno]

I was wondering if any one heard about the counsil approving a 15 story ferris wheek for victoria square??

I heard it on Nova this morning..

hilarious...

ah, i retract my "hilarious" comment above. Seems a temporary 15storey Ferris Wheel is proposed for VSQ to coincide with the Fringe & Clipsal events. Not sure if this is planned for 2009, or 2010 though.

[edit] found an online article:

Adelaide City Council last night approved the operation of a SkyView Observation Wheel in Victoria Square/Tarndanyangga from 16 February to 26 March 2009, which will coincide with the Fringe Festival and the Clipsal 500.

It will be 46m (15 storeys) high.

The relocatable wheel has 36 luxury wheelchair accessible and air-conditioned gondolas with room for 220 people (1200 per hour) and includes an audio computerised system for commentary.

The SkyView Observation Wheel has been in Australia for 18 months and previously appeared at Sydney's Darling Harbour, and the Sydney and Melbourne Royal Shows.

There will be a charge to ride the wheel with the Council saying a percentage of ticket sales will be donated to local charities.

vsq-wheel1.jpg (60.55 KiB) Viewed 2935 times

[Prince George]

While I'm not excited about a ferris wheel per se, I do like the idea of spending the next year (and this summer especially) trying things on for size in the square. What other things could we try for a month or so to see if it fits? Close a lane of traffic? Build some structures maybe just out of scaffolding or stage rigging to see how they'd look?

[SRW]

If this is going to go in the Square, I hope it's going in the centre (road lanes), perhaps as a trial for permanent closure.

[AtD]

If I had to guess, I'd say it'd stand where the tram stop used to be.

Good idea though. Hopefully it'll pull a significant crowd.

[Omicron]

So, it's larger than the one at Glenelg, with a better view, to be built in a shorter time, with greater capacity, and more features?

Excellent.

[crawf]

Excellent idea!

[Norman]

Should get some nice photos from the top!

[Shuz]

As long as its temporary.

[ghs]

I like this idea. The Adelaide city council has been coming up with some good ones recently.

Only issue I think is the location. Wouldn't hindmarsh square be better since most of the festival events are in the east end ?

[jk1237]

cool idea

15 storeys high!!!!!!, thats enormous, is that true? If it is I cant wait to get some snaps from up the top of it

@ghs, I do like the idea of it in Vic Sq, so to bring some life into it. The Fringe always try to have little hubs all over the city. They cant use the Balfours site (like past few years) anymore caus of the construction, so they may put some stuff around Vic Squre

[Will]

The transformation of Victoria Square should also involve the areas around it, particularly the building's fronting the square.

As such I am pleased to find, that an application has been lodged with the ACC to convert the ground floor of the Reserve Bank Building into a restaurant/bar.