Town of Port Hedland endorses feasibility study into Arts Hub at the old Pundulmurra TAFE

An old, decrepit Port Hedland TAFE site could soon play home to a cultural zone akin to Karratha’s Red Earth Arts Precinct, providing a hub for local and travelling creatives. At the March council meeting, Town of Port Hedland councillors voted to endorse a feasibility study into the project, which would see the 100,000sqm lot on the corner of Forrest Circle and Hamilton Road, where the old Pundulmurra TAFE building sits, transformed. An auditorium for travelling musical and dramatic acts, and a showroom for touring art exhibitions could be included in the facility, which is hoped would draw interstate and international acts. The Town of Port Hedland engaged Officer Woods Architects and RFF Consultants last July to evaluate options for a consolidated Arts and Culture Precinct. In January the local government conducted an assessment of preferred sites for co-located cultural infrastructure for commercial and civic use, service connections, environmental provisions and best practice requirements of comparable cultural precincts. The analysis found the Forrest Circle lot’s size allowed for a 15,000sqm precinct, extensive landscaping and green space. The site is mostly vacant but some TAFE activities and a childcare centre still occupy a small portion of the site. A Return Design Brief by the ToPH listed a series of regional arts centres as benchmark projects to shape the concept, including Karratha’s Red Earth Arts Precinct. A Town officers’ report said the Arts and Culture Strategy 2019-2022 highlighted the need for an integrated hub for arts and cultural infrastructure with facilities that provide appropriate spaces for performance and community use. ToPH Mayor Peter Carter said the enhanced infrastructure development of the Arts and Culture Precinct would strengthen and build on Hedland’s cultural capacity, participation, inclusivity and visitor engagement. “The Town thanks the community, industry and arts and cultural organisations for their valuable input in highlighting the social value Hedland’s arts scene brings to the community and the requirements needed for arts and cultural infrastructure,” he said. “The project envisions a vibrant, integrated Arts and Culture Precinct that is available and welcoming to all, ranging from spaces for performing arts and cultural activities to places for Performing Arts Schools and business tourism. “Council looks forward to the next stages of this project, bringing a fit-for-purpose venue to South Hedland to provide more opportunities for celebrating our cultural heritage, arts and Pilbara lifestyle.”