Geelong Library gets $10m major upgrade
Thursday, 15 September 2011 00:32
Residents of the city of Geelong in Victoria will soon have greater access to historical, cultural and artistic resources with $10 million federal government funding towards the construction of the $45 million Geelong Library and Heritage Centre.
Federal Minister for Regional Australia Simon Crean today announced that funding will be provided to the City of Greater Geelong as part of the first round of the Regional Development Australia Fund (RDAF), worth almost $1 billion.
“The newly designed facility of 7,000 square metres over six levels will provide a range of facilities including community reading areas, child, youth discovery and multimedia zones, community IT areas, library collections, community meeting rooms, and an auditorium,” Mr Crean said.
“It will also strengthen access to information and learning for a projected population of 500,000 by 2059.”
Member for Corangamite Darren Cheeseman said libraries were fantastic community resources.
“They are free for people of all ages to use whether they are coming in to read a newspaper or accessing the Internet for a school or university assignment – which is why this is such an important project,” he said.
“It will become the community and civic anchor of the Geelong Cultural Precinct by providing access to career resources, create an informed community, focus on cultural and artistic development and provide free and universal access to IT infrastructure, digital literacy and technological resources.”
The project will create an additional 299 positions during construction and 17 fulltime positions on completion in December 2014.
It is expected to generate $7.46 in economic benefit for every $4.23 invested.
The project is aligned with Regional Development Australia (RDA) Barwon South.
The RDAF program supports the infrastructure needs and economic growth of Australia’s regions. It is designed to leverage state, commonwealth, local government, private and not-for-profit investments.
In Round One, $150 million in grant funding has been provided to 35 projects around Australia leveraging a total of around $418 million in project costs.
RDA committees played a major role in working with local communities to identify projects that were consistent with their regional plans.
The Chair of the Independent Advisory Panel, Mr Christian Zahra, will assist with a review of RDAF Round One and provide recommendations to the Minister to consider implementing for Round Two and subsequent rounds of the program.
This review will consider ways in which the impact of the program might be strengthened and the application process streamlined.
Round Two of the RDAF program will be valued at $150 million, with applications to open in November this year.
A full list of the successful projects is available at: www.regional.gov.au
