Sydney Harbour site for high-tech graphics centre
The Sydney Harbour Federation Trust is seeking expressions of interest on leasing buildings and facilities on the island, as well as input from businesses on how the island can be developed.
The Trust is aiming to regain the energy and vitality of the island's past, and is looking specifically towards the creative end of the IT industry as a means to transform the former penal site into Australia's 'silicon island'. While information on the specific companies that have expressed interest in the site is not yet available, the Federation Trust expects a diverse range of graphic arts companies to take up lodgement on the island.
“I believe business sectors as creative and adaptive as animation, design and multimedia have a key role to play in the development of this unique commercial and cultural community,” says Geoff Bailey, executive director of Sydney Harbour Federation Trust.
Bailey points out the island is a highly developed industrial site with over 150 unused buildings, and emphasises the desire of the Trust to find business and cultural activity that fit with the existing infrastructure. “Our vision for Cockatoo Island is to revive maritime activity and create a dynamic mix of business, cultural, and recreational activities that will allow the history and future of this unique site to sympathetically blend,” he says.
The existing ferry services will be enhanced for transport to and from the island, and an extensive upgrade of the site's infrastructure will take place. A majority of the decontamination work on the industrial sites has already been performed, the power and telephone communications are in the process of being upgraded. Underwater cables will be installed to facilitate digital communication.
The Trust is currently taking expressions of interest from businesses looking to take advantage of the space on Cockatoo Island. Visit www.harbourtrust.gov.au for full information on the process, the deadline for proposals is 5pm, Friday 18 November 2005.
Cockatoo Island covers an area of 17.9 hectares, and can be reached by ferry from Circular Quay and the inner western suburbs of Balmain and Woolwich. The island was a convict prison from the 1840s up until 1908, developing into a maritime precinct and eventually transforming into a major shipbuilding yard.
Shipbuilding activities peaked in 1919 when more than 4,000 people were employed constructing warships for the Royal Australian Navy. The dockyard was decommissioned in 1991, and a variety of structures remain in place. The Sydney Harbour Federation Trust was established in 1999 to plan and manage the future uses of the island.
“I believe business sectors as creative and adaptive as animation, design and multimedia have a key role to play in the development of this unique commercial and cultural community,” says Geoff Bailey, executive director of Sydney Harbour Federation Trust.