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Tender awarded for Gallery expansion

Thursday 24 May 2012

The City of Greater Bendigo has awarded a $7.6 million tender to local construction company Fairbrother Pty Ltd for a major expansion of the Bendigo Art Gallery.

City of Greater Bendigo Mayor Cr Alec Sandner said the expansion of the gallery is one of Council’s major projects that will include construction of two new gallery spaces, an enhanced entrance and much needed storage and loading facilities.

“With the tender now awarded this project is reaching an exciting stage with work expected to commence in July after the blockbuster Grace Kelly: Style Icon exhibition has been packed up and shipped out.

“The works are expected to take about 15 months which will mean that the project will be completed before the end of 2013,” said Cr Sandner.

The project will include:-

Creation of a new “Park Gallery” exhibition area featuring open, flexible spaces to cater to the needs of major exhibitions and floor level storage spaces;
Creation of a new multi-purpose exhibition “Pavilion Gallery” separated from the new “Park Gallery” by a glazed link;
Construction of a new back-of-house loading dock and exhibition management zone; and
Refinement of Front of House entrance and modifications to reception and gallery shop areas.

Cr Sandner said the expansion of Bendigo Art Gallery is a major part of the View Street Arts Precinct Master Plan.

“This project is very important because it will solve a number of space issues for exhibition, education and storage facilities that currently exist at the gallery.

“Since 1996, Bendigo Art Gallery has undergone four carefully staged redevelopments to enhance its look and feel and this project will tie together the previous modifications and incorporate additional space for the Gallery to change and grow.

“The gallery is currently utilising off-site storage facilities in Melbourne to house its collection and out-of-exhibition artworks. This is definitely not an ideal solution and we are looking forward to the new storage spaces solving this problem and saving us unnecessary costs,” said Cr Sandner.

Plans for the expansion have been designed by architects Fender Katsalidis who have integrated art, heritage and modern sustainability elements to produce a practical yet captivating design that features recycled and renewable building products and energy efficient systems and lighting.

The total project will be funded by a $3.775M contribution from the Victorian Government, a $3.625M contribution from the City of Greater Bendigo and a further $1M Bendigo Art Gallery Board/Philanthropic contribution.