Page 1337 - Week 05 - Tuesday, 16 April 1991
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ceremony that coincided with the seventy-fifth anniversary of the founding of Canberra, the Prime Minister, Mr Hawke, formally presented Stage '88 to the people of Canberra. Since that time Stage '88 has been host to a range of exciting events that have proved very popular with both residents of and visitors to this Territory.
Some of these activities, like the extensive program offered each year by the Canberra Festival, were predicted in the planning of Stage '88. Others, like the live performances that now support the floral displays of Floriade, were then just part of the vision of what Stage '88 could become. There is, however, one chapter of the Stage '88 story which has not yet been completed. I am referring here to the construction of a combination of demountable and permanent fencing intended to enhance the range of possible uses of Stage '88. Funds of $177,000 remain available for the provision of the fence, ancillary equipment and associated works.
I am not certain how many members of the Assembly would be aware that the construction of a fence was part of the original concept for Stage '88, as proposed in February 1986 by the Standing Committee on Development and Planning in the then ACT House of Assembly. Of even more significance was the fact that the potential for income generation provided by the fence became crucial to the selection of Stage '88 as the Territory's bicentennial project. From a long list of worthy projects for the bicentennial funds, the two front runners were an outdoor performance venue and an ACT museum.
The final decision to proceed with a performance venue, later named Stage '88, was made by the then ACT House of Assembly in February 1986. The minutes of that meeting clearly show that the crucial issue in the decision was recurrent cost. Not only was Stage '88 seen to be by far the cheaper to run of the two proposals, but there were direct references in the house to the contribution to income that a fence would make. Mr Peter Vallee, chairman of the Standing Committee on Development and Planning, said in the debate on 11 February 1986:
The question of running costs and the associated matters of fencing and charging raised ... are very important ... one of the advantages of choosing a project like this, which had a very low running cost because we pruned it down to the bare essentials, is that we believe it can be made available to non-commercial hirers at either no cost or at very low cost indeed. We have in mind for example that Sunday in the Park activities could use it without cost. Commercial hirers like rock groups or major performers would pay a fee, and that would also cover the cost of installing the demountable fencing which would be needed to allow them to charge ...
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