1. YUNGABA HERITAGE IRREPLACEABLE
A new development application that would convert the elegant Yungaba immigration reception centre into ten private residential units has been lodged by developer Australand.
“The new development application is no better than the previous one” said Delene Cuddihy of Yungaba Action Group (YAG).
“The developers and the government are trying to fob the public off with a brand new Multicultural Centre to be built in the present carpark below the Story Bridge. This is not an acceptable substitute as it completely neglects the significance of the public memory embodied in the 1887 building and its historic garden linked to the river.”
“Most people realise that it is not enough just to keep the shell of possibly the most significant historic site in Queensland and convert the interior for the exclusive use of just ten wealthy owners. This building was the gateway to Queensland and is owned by the people of Queensland, migrants and their descendents and it should remain so.” Ms Cuddihy said.
“Queensland is now the only Australian state without a memorial or museum to honour its migrant origins. Many Queensland families can trace an ancestor arriving at Yungaba.”
YAG are proposing that the 1887 building be developed as an immigrant museum. We propose that visitors would thrill to a migrant experience, like at Ellis Island in New York, the most popular museum in the United States. The museum would simulate how their ancestors arrived in an exciting new land with boundless opportunities, a pioneering culture and acceptance of people from all lands.
As society becomes more populous and affluent, more economically mature and with the population aging like Queensland, they take more interest in family origins and roots.” Ms Cuddihy said.
“Many people have been visiting our website and signing the petition to protest against this development,’ said Ms Cuddihy, ‘We have been trying to present our ideas to the Government. With active public support we are now getting their attention and we will continue to do so until we achieve our objective – keeping Yungaba and its grounds as a place for the people.”
Further YAG information is on website www.yungaba.org.au
Press Release 10/01/07
Supporters of the doomed Yungaba, the former immigration centre at Kangaroo Point, which is to be turned into luxury apartments, will maintain a campaign to reverse the Government decision.
‘The Government has poured millions of dollars into the new Gallery Of Modern Art,’ stated spokesperson Delene Cuddihy of Yungaba Action Group (YAG), ‘but it has forgotten to honour the immigrants who peopled this State. Since the building was completed 120 years ago, on February 2 nd 1887 , Yungaba has served as a welcoming gateway into Queensland for migrants who were necessary and central to our state’s development.’
The State Government has sold the heritage-listed property to a developer, Australand, with Singaporean ownership. Instead of being owned and used by thousands of families for recreation and education, it will be transferred to the exclusive ownership and use of the occupants of eleven private units.
YAG have identified several important changes in public demand since the government began selling Yungaba about 2000. As Queensland society has aged and has become more affluent, ‘grey nomads’ from the Baby Boom are showing more interest in local history. Family parties including retirees will pay enough to cover costs for recreational and educational experiences. For example, guided tours of the local Story Bridge cost $120 per person and are heavily booked. History venues have increased in popularity. Governments have called for more and better teaching of history to develop civil society.
Yungaba Action Group (YAG) wants the Government to buy it back and develop a sustainable use for the building. It has written to Minister Schwarten and the Premier without reply.
YAG’s proposal for Yungaba establishes it as a site of memory for the immigration experience. Queensland is the only state without a memorial to honour and celebrate immigration. For instance, ‘The Immigration Story’, a dramatised role-play, could recreate the reception of ancestral immigrants and the situation they found themselves in. There could be a re-enactment of important parts of Queensland culture that will celebrate the past and help people to focus on our culture today. There could also be educational tours for school children, a genealogy centre, a wall of memory, museum exhibits, events by current immigrant groups, visiting exhibitions and many more possibilities.’
YAG’s proposal would complement other cultural centres such as the Queensland Museum , State Library, Art Gallery , Performing Arts Centre, Maritime Museum and Commissariat Museum within walking distance. Visitors, school students and researchers, would be attracted to the network..
‘The Premier’s office said they would meet with us after the election but we have heard nothing,’ said Ms Cuddihy. ‘This is typical of the arrogant Beattie Government. For a small fraction of the money being poured into development projects, Yungaba could be saved for the people of Queensland . Here is an opportunity to showcase Queensland civic values in the human and architectural fabric of its capital city, with iconic Brisbane skyline incorporating the Story Bridge and the Brisbane River . There aren’t any similar public spaces as good as this left. Yungaba should not become anyone’s private property. Its grounds and adjacent crown land should be retained as much needed green space in an already overbuilt inner city precinct.’
More information: www.yungaba.org.au
Background Information for Media
It is on the south bank of the Brisbane River at the Kangaroo Point reach. The front entrance of the building was accessed via the landing wharf facing the river approach to Brisbane city. The rear entrance is beside the southern approach to the Story Bridge .
What is Yungaba?
It is a publicly owned building constructed in 1885 –1887 for immigrant reception, to temporarily accommodate 500. It was designed by the Colonial Architect John James Clark. For over 100 years it provided a reception centre where migrants and refugees were helped to find destinations, jobs and homes.
Immigration to Queensland reached a record 35,000 in 1883. So, in 1884, six acres at Kangaroo Point were purchased for ‘(a barracks) where immigrants would get a favourable impression in pleasant surroundings.’ The new building replaced the first depot on William Street , which was less attractive.
The buildings have provided a unique reception for tens of thousands of migrants who passed through on their way to a new life in Queensland . It also welcomed and provided hospital care for armed services personnel who were casualties from the Boer, WW I & WWII wars. It was the site where the ANZACs disembarked and receptions were held upon their return from the Somme and from Gallopoli.
It was also the site where the South Sea Islanders were held before being repatriated to their native islands when Queensland made the decision not to condone blackbirding.
Yungaba’s location and ambiance are outstanding.
‘The elevation of the building was Italianate, Queensland and institutional: Italianate because of the application of enclosing verandahs, developed galvanised iron hoods to the windows and ventilators to the roofs; and institutional because of the resolutely symmetrical treatment. Even the decorative elements were applied with rigid symmetry round the east-west axis. A sturdy segmental loggia sheltered the main axial entry and round arched windows were applied to the twin towers and to the central extremities of the north, west and south ranges.’
Kerr,J S Yungaba , A Revised Plan For Its Conservation , Dept of Public Works, Qld, 2001
In the interior, the Central Hall, Day Rooms and Wards (or Dormitories), are well-proportioned with attractive outlooks. The building has a wide field of view over extensive gardens to the Brisbane River and city beyond.
The interior has unique ornate cast iron beams that span the dormitories. There are also many decorative motifs found nowhere else in Queensland .
The community has valued it as Queensland ’s centre for immigration. In 1901 the Queensland population was 0.5millions, 35% born overseas. A century later in 2001, the population was 3.6 millions with 18% born overseas. The increase in population resulted largely from immigration and today the landing of immigrants from overseas is still an important factor in the rapid growth of the State.
When there were few migrants, Yungaba served other purposes, such as a military hospital in World War 2.
In 1988, when the impact of redevelopment at Kangaroo Point caused community concern, Yungaba was the first site listed under the Cultural Record Act. In 1992 it was permanently entered on the Queensland Heritage Register. About this time, Government approved plans to turn it into a Multicultural Centre, to acknowledge the historic significance of the site.
What is the threat to Yungaba?
There have been slumps in immigrant accommodation requirements before but the site has never been sold.
Suddenly in 2002 and without full consultation, the Queensland Government took steps to sell Yungaba and its grounds to Australand, a firm of private developers, who have plans to turn the building into luxury units within a gated community and to build several highrise buildings in the grounds. In 2003 Australand submitted a Development Application to turn Yungaba into 11 luxury apartments and to build high rise units on its grounds and adjacent land that obscure views from the main building. In 2005 the plans were approved by Brisbane City Council and the Minister for Local Government under her call-in powers from the Integrated Planning Act. There is no appeal to this decision under this Act. Minister for Works Robert Schwarten, who is selling Yungaba, commented that a number of other approvals were required. The current status has not been forthcoming.
What is YAG’s proposal for Yungaba?
The possibilities for a viable future that YAG have considered lie on a continuum of accessibility of the heritage resources to the public. At one end was traditional curatorship, hoarding the resource as a collection relatively inaccessible to the public and at the other end was the mass access of a commercial theme park with an immigration experience product. We decided on an intermediate position.
A key element would be dramatised tours conducted around the Immigrant Experience. An immigration museum, a genealogy exhibit where visitors could conduct their own family history research and a wall of memory to inscribe the arrival of their family in Queensland , are also being investigated.
The museum could house documents and immigrants’ possessions, such as luggage, clothes, toiletries, reading and writing materials. Volunteers from Yungaba Action Group with curatorial and archiving experience would be available to help organise collections of donated and loaned artefacts.
What could a dramatised visit to Yungaba be like?
Visitors would enter the site as immigrants from the river or on-site parking at the refurbished wharf. Actors in 1890s attire would conduct groups in-role, pointing out features of historic Brisbane that would have been visible across the river. Then they would be shown architectural features of the beautiful Yungaba building.
They would go to the Central Hall for a meal a la 1870s with actors presenting humour and customs of the time. Still in-role, they would receive an official welcome and watch the actors portray vignettes of the difficulties that immigrants faced. Also, in role, they would be shown the great Australian dream and given a lecture on the boundless possibilities of life in Queensland at that time. They would be told how Queensland culture was different and things to watch out for. One of our members has started writing a play, a series of vignettes, of migrant experiences at Yungaba, that could be presented to tour groups by actor guides. Whole families of visitors could be entertained and also educated, widening their perspective of what it means to be a Queenslander.
‘We envisage tours of Yungaba could be run by a private contractor under supervision by a government department, such as Parks and Wildlife that runs the St Helena Dramatised Tours.
How realistic is YAG’s proposal?
We have discussed ‘The Yungaba Immigration Story’ idea with one tour operator who is keen to develop a commercial Yungaba project. Expertise is also available to develop museum, genealogical and memorialisation elements. All that is needed is the government’s go ahead for YAG to prepare a detailed proposal. YAG volunteers will also assist implementation.
The vital role played by immigrants in developing Queensland is being acknowledged by the people but not by the government. People now more than ever want to know about and celebrate their ethnic origins.
More information: www.yungaba.org.au
Yungaba's beautiful awnings