[COM] New Royal Adelaide Hospital | $2.1b

All high-rise, low-rise and street developments in the Adelaide and North Adelaide areas.
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Howie
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#16 Post by Howie » Thu May 24, 2007 1:22 pm

Map of the current RAH site
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And shots of the RAH main buildings
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You can really see how old these buildings are in the above photos.

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Tyler_Durden
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#17 Post by Tyler_Durden » Thu May 24, 2007 1:50 pm

Wrong location. I'm not sure where else it could go but that location should only be used for something more iconic, as everyone else has said. Unfortunately for such a large facility requiring good access to public transport there doesn't seem to be an obvious site that is readily available. Surely there are other options somewhere though, if indeed this is true.

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#18 Post by urban » Thu May 24, 2007 2:18 pm

Thanks for the photos Howie. I knew it was big but not that big. If you were building new you would want capacity for at least an additional 1/3 of the floor area. If you put it on one of the city sites I suggested it would have to be Adelaides tallest building.

For a CBD location the proposed site seems the only possibility.

I can see the developers lining up already although it will take considerable skill to get something marketable.

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#19 Post by jimmy_2486 » Thu May 24, 2007 2:35 pm

Well at least all the sat night casualties on hindley st dont have far to go now!!

hehehe

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#20 Post by stelaras » Thu May 24, 2007 3:13 pm

yes but if the casualties require ambulance transport it would still cost an arm and a leg.........ooops, pardon the pun :lol:


Lets just say that this hair brain idea goes to plan...

what would happen to the old RAH, IMVS, Medical School, dentistry school, car parks and the god awefull Reid Building????
Last edited by stelaras on Thu May 24, 2007 3:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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#21 Post by alfer7_3 » Thu May 24, 2007 3:13 pm

The railway yards take up an enourmous amount of space from about Mophett st bridge in the east to almost the Police Barracks and old Adelaide Gaol in the west, which is probably 2.5 times larger than the current site. If the new RAH was to be built on the western side of the railway yards taking up about the same amount of space as the current hospital with taller buildings for extra space it would not be taking up much river frontage space. the area closer to Morphett st bridge then could be used as a tourism, retail and entertainment precinct completely separate. this wouldn't be too far from the city and also support the tram line extension. also does anyone know if residential development is possible on the parklands because the existing hospital could be converted into apartments, student housing and a part of the university and apartments could also be built over the railway yards. cheers.

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#22 Post by bdm » Thu May 24, 2007 4:30 pm

The railway yards should be for a uni campus or an entertainment precinct.

What a waste to put a hospital there.

Why don't they just upgrade the present site with a beautiful new RAH tower? The buildings are the problem, not the location.

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#23 Post by Will » Thu May 24, 2007 4:38 pm

I am all for spending more money on public hospitals, however I have serious misgivings about this proposal.

$1.5 billion is a huge amount of money. There should be better discussion as to whether this money should be better spent on better services or a new hospital. Furthermore would this new project make the multi-million dollar upgrades made to the RAH 5 years ago a waste of money. What about the new hospital carpark that was only completed in 2003?

Also, I think the railway site is better suited to a multi-purpose stadium. Even if the RAH is moved to the railway site, there is talk within the government of turning the current RAH site into parklands. This in my opinion would be a serious step backwards. The site has for more than 100 years had structures on it. If the hospital is moved, the current site should be used to extend the North Terrace cultural precinct, by building a new world-class museum of modern art, or a national beer centre.

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#24 Post by Pistol » Thu May 24, 2007 4:42 pm

Will wrote:or a national beer centre.
I am all for that :D

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#25 Post by urban » Thu May 24, 2007 4:42 pm

If you are going to combine the Queen Liz & RAH then the Clipsal site would have to come into consideration. Extending the tram to service the Entertainment Centre, Hindmarsh Stadium and the hospital would be an easy argument to make.
ABC News Online
Last Update: Thursday, May 24, 2007. 4:22pm (AEST)

A specialist has suggested combining the RAH and the QEH. (ABC TV)

SA Govt urged to combine RAH and QEH
The South Australian Premier, Mike Rann, has refused to be drawn on reports of a planned $1.5 billion relocation of the Royal Adelaide Hospital (RAH).

There are suggestions it could move from the eastern end of North Terrace in the city to the western end, near the Morphett Street bridge.

A medical specialist has urged the Government to combine the RAH with the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH), at Woodville in the western suburbs.

The state Treasurer's office will not comment on any speculation relating to the next month's state budget and Mr Rann also refuses to confirm or deny that there is a plan.

"Go back to last year's pre-budget period and the year before's pre-budget period and the year before's pre-budget period and I gave exactly the same answer to speculation that was true and to speculation that was wrong," he said.

A former South Australian president of the Australian Medical Association (AMA), Dr Chris Cain, says any Government investment of that size would be welcome.

"I'll just be grateful that the government is prepared to invest this sort of money in the health system, but would just ask that they engage the profession completely in the process and making sure that things work as they should be, and we address the needs of the community," he said.

The AMA is worried that other parts of the health sector could be starved of funding.

Current president, Dr Peter Ford, says the health department won't give any confirmation of a plan.

He says the RAH is lagging in technology and is limited by its current site.

But Dr Ford is worried for the rest of the health sector.

"This is a sort of infrastructure capital spending project if you like ... and the running of the system at the moment is quite deficient. I mean, we have all sorts of staffing issues and equipment issues, I-T issues," he said.

"Certainly the [Royal] Adelaide Hospital is not the only area in need of money, so we wouldn't like to see some pie in the sky vision and then nothing done to support and improve what we already have."

South Australia's Opposition Leader Martin Hamilton-Smith is demanding that the Government reveal its plans.

"Whether the best way to spend $1.5 billion is to build a brand spanking new building is a question the Government needs to justify so that's why they need to give us the facts," he said.

"It's probably the worst kept secret in Adelaide. The Treasurer Kevin Foley has clearly lost control of his budget processes here."

Mr Hamilton-Smith says $1.5 billion could wipe out hospital waiting lists for more than a decade.

Another former AMA president, Dr Rod Pierce, says the current hospital is severely limited.

"We've known for years the difficulty in expanding some of the areas and putting the services we need at the Royal Adelaide, and it's got limited space, it's got parklands on one side and the University [of Adelaide] on the other," he said.

Medical specialist Professor Guy Maddern is keen for any re-location of the RAH to incorporate the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

"Perhaps call it the Queen Adelaide Hospital and really try and define a health service that's going to be modern and appropriate for South Australia," he said.

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#26 Post by urban » Thu May 24, 2007 4:54 pm

Will wrote:If the hospital is moved, the current site should be used to extend the North Terrace cultural precinct, by building a new world-class museum of modern art, or a national beer centre.
Both the Museum and Art Gallery of South Australia have only a tiny proportion of their collections on show. Judicious culling of the worst buildings on the RAH site would still leave a large floor area of well air-conditioned spaces possibly suitable for Gallery or Museum use as well as laboratory spaces which should be adaptable for art conservation measures. Perhaps a centre for excellence in art conservation/archeology.

With some improvement of the connection to the Botanic Gardens the two could be combined to form a truly world class tourist attraction.

Anyone got a couple of spare billion?

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#27 Post by Bulldozer » Thu May 24, 2007 5:36 pm

Building a new hospital over the rail yards would be a scandalous misuse of a prime location. If a new hospital is to be built then I think it should be built elsewhere within the city to free up the parklands and bring a lot of activity to a quiet and neglected part of the city. It would most certainly require the compulsory acquisition of a whole block or two - I had no idea how large the existing complex is!

That said, I do think the money would be better spent addressing more pressing issues like the water crisis. Maybe other hospitals could be upgraded so that they can handle things that people have to come to Adelaide for these days?

Besides, $1.5 billion should send a shiver down all of our spines if we adjust that to match the cost blowouts that other Rann government infrastructure projects have achieved.

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#28 Post by jimmy_2486 » Thu May 24, 2007 5:50 pm

It would be strange to relocate the RAH.... adelaide uni med students use it for their work experience!

So now the med students would have to travel to the other side of north tce!

Id say to use the old RAH for an extension of adelaide uni or unisa city east, or both!

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#29 Post by jimmy_2486 » Thu May 24, 2007 5:57 pm

Bulldozer wrote: Besides, $1.5 billion should send a shiver down all of our spines if we adjust that to match the cost blowouts that other Rann government infrastructure projects have achieved.
Man, we could use that money plus a bit more to fund our north/south motorway we sooooo desperately need!!!

I caught the bus from city to marion road at 5pm, a total distance of 7km to get home from uni last night and the bus ride took an hour (usually takes 45-55 min). Ontop of that my m44 bus goes express down anzac hwy and uses express bus lanes to zip past alot of traffic and still take an hour at 5pm!

Now that is a joke for a city of only 1.5mil people.

Spend the money on a motorway to stop the northern/southern suburbs people using the local roads to get home!!

I mean alot of people who drive south home have given up on south road and have invaded aylifs road and marion road to go home!!!

Might I also add that the way I have to cross marion road after i get off the bus is not to wait for a gap in traffic, cos that will never happen, but to actually wait for the traffic to bank up and stop, which happens alot!!

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#30 Post by Howie » Thu May 24, 2007 6:56 pm

jimmy_2486 wrote:It would be strange to relocate the RAH.... adelaide uni med students use it for their work experience!

So now the med students would have to travel to the other side of north tce!

Id say to use the old RAH for an extension of adelaide uni or unisa city east, or both!
The Adelaide Uni Med School would be included in any possible shift. So they wouldn't have to go anywhere at all.

And if you were to upgrade or build new buildings on the current site, you've got to remember this is a hospital that operates 24x7. You're going to need to knock out access to key parts of the hospital during the upgrade, and logistically this isn't as simple as most people would think. Departments would have to be staged in and out of new buildings, lots of temporary infrastructure will have to go up. I'd say a good amount of wasted money could be spent on going this route (which they have over the last decade anyway).

It definately needs to shift location. The question really is where, and what will become of the old site?

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