November 28, 2016
Asbestos has caused a backflip on the future of Farrhome in Kingaroy … the former nursing home building will now be demolished.
The Darling Downs Hospital and Health Service announced on Monday that Farrhome would be replaced by “a new purpose-built facility” at the rear of the Kingaroy Hospital campus.
“A joint project, with co-contributors Griffith University and Queensland Rural Medical Education (QRME), to use the building for a dental and community health facility was underway, but initial construction works revealed much larger amounts of asbestos in the ageing building than expected,” DDHHS executive director infrastructure Dr Paul Clayton said.
“Safety must always be our first consideration, so a decision was made to demolish the building, and we are now focused on redesigning the project to deliver a new purpose-built facility.
“The decision was not made lightly, because we all appreciate the historical significance of the building which was named after Matron Farr, who worked at Kingaroy Hospital from the 1940s to the 1970s, and we are committed to ensuring her memory lives on in the new building.
“However the concerns about safety, for both now and into the future, meant that a new building on a clear site would be the most practical option, and with that in mind the construction contractors, Hutchinson Builders, are continuing with the demolition and removing the asbestos safely.”
Dr Clayton said the DDHHS’s commitment to the original aim of the joint project with project partners Griffith University and QRME remained steadfast.
“We still plan to deliver a dental and community health building for the people of the South Burnett,” he said.
“The project is heading in the same direction but we are revising the scope of works to accommodate the construction of a contemporary purpose-built facility.”
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The last resident transferred out of Farrhome in March, 2013.
This followed a decision to close the facility because of a change in Fire Safety regulations.
Speaking at the time, then-South Burnett Cluster Operations Manager Peta Rutherford said the decision to close the unit had not been done lightly.
“There has been a commitment given that whatever this building is used for, it will be for something with a clinical focus; it won’t be offices,” she said.
“Regardless of what services are delivered from this building, it will continue to honour Matron Farr and the services she provided to this hospital.”
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