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An artist’s impression of an aerial view of the proposed additions to the Grafton Regional Gallery (the existing gallery is at right). In summary, the project delivers refurbishment to the existing studio, gallery & function space (282 sqm); the addition of the new gallery space (548 sqm); the addition of a new collection and conservation space (146 sqm); and associated works. Image: Contributed

Regional gallery expansion set to go

Geoff Helisma | Clarence Valley Council’s (CVC) plan to extend and refurbish the Grafton Regional Gallery has been given the final go-ahead. The Office of Local Government (OLG) has written to the council to advise it has “satisfactorily addressed the OLG’s capital expenditure criteria” following a review of the relevant documents. These documents – CVC’s Economic Evaluation, Business Case and Business Plan FY2019−22 – were assessed, the letter states, “against strategic, economic, affordability and deliverability criteria [that] specifically detail … the aims and scope of the project, the project plan, its estimated costs, the capacity of Council to undertake the development, the public consultation process and Council’s risk management approach”. Deputy Premier and Minister for Regional NSW John Barilaro and Member for Clarence Chris Gulaptis announced in May that CVC was successful with its $7,621,480 (exclusive of GST) Regional Cultural Fund application – the grant is for 100 percent of the construction costs. There will be other associated costs, however, once the project is completed. “Increased revenues or savings (of around $98,000) will be needed to fund depreciation when the new extensions/refurbishments are constructed,” staff advised councillors at the July council meeting. “Funding this revenue is highly feasible … if the gallery takes over some of the role of rental space for corporate and other function rental,” the report to council stated. Documents submitted to the NSW Government when applying for the grant, stated that “the refurbished extended gallery will achieve a conservative cost benefit of 1.29:1 (that is for every $1million invested it will return $1.29million in community benefit)”. “The main issue with the extended and much more efficient operational space (hence the need for no more staff) is the depreciation of the building,” the report to council stated. “Current depreciation is $47,092 which escalates to a maximum of $145,892 … which means around $98,000 will need to be found in increased revenue or savings.” Staff wrote that the $98,000 figure was a “worst case scenario” and that it would not come into play until the 2020/21 financial year, due to the two-year construction period. Staff advised that an increase in revenue to meet the depreciation expense “is highly feasible and [that] more revenue can be generated, as the new spaces allow the gallery to host more ‘blockbuster’ exhibitions”. “A new, innovative value-adding program where [the gallery] charges for talks and events around current exhibitions,” will create extra revenue, too, staff wrote. “For example, the recent talk on historical houses of the past 60 years was charged at $10 per head and forty attended.” Staff noted that the Archibald exhibition generated $25,000 in takings and that before CVC handed the Grafton community centre over to headspace, that it “was generating over $150,000 in income, mainly from corporate hire of the small meeting rooms … the gallery can substitute for this lack of facility in Grafton”. At the July meeting, councillors “allocated an initial $580,000 … to begin works which will involve DA [development application] preparation, a delivery project manager (contractor) and tender preparation”.