Well, it’s been a while. Apologies to all those who missed my charm and online banter. For those that did not, you have had a nice break, the holiday is over.

I was reading through the Cairns Post online this morning and found a lovely little story about the Cairns Yacht Club – or should I say the “restored Cairns Yacht Club” now the centrepiece of the student hub at JCU in Smithfield.  You can read the story online and see the nice picture of the happy students.

Now – let me be perfectly clear.  I think the students at JCU absolutely deserve new facilities – it’s great that they have a new student hub and I wish them the best and hope they make the most of it.  Enjoy!

But .. (you knew that was coming I bet) – it is a subtle bit of continued politics that the Cairns Post continue to refer to this facility as the “restored Cairns Yacht Club”.  This adds legitimacy to the flawed process that had it removed in the first place, the con-job that was pulled on the Cairns public and stupidity that has added further expense to an already flawed process.

The article notes “a few of the floor boards” have been replaced… and “the end walls”.  I recall from earlier photos that there was only three walls left on the structure which means (to my logic) that at best we have one wall, part of a floor and some roof trusses. Other stories in the Post refer to the decay and what was left collapsing on itself. and photos on the Cairns Blog are inconclusive, but it doesn’t look like much of any wall is standing.

Umm..  Just how much of the old girl is left ?

My understanding of restoration is that you can restore something as long as you bring it back to (near) original condition, which in the case of the yacht club is pointless I agree.  It has (rightly) been used as a base for a new building that suits a new purpose.  The original building would make no sense where it is.

There are examples of moving buildings and restoring them – Cominos House is a prime example and worth a visit if you are in the area.  It has a rich history (as did the yacht club) and a well planned and executed removal (unlike the yacht club).  It is interesting to note that for such a fine example of “restoration” the council chipped in $95,000 in 1992 .

So – lets start calling it as it really is… a recycled building.  There is nothing wrong with that, recycling is good (not quite sure of the price tag ***).  To the Cairns Post – the yacht club was demolished and the bits were either sold by Anton’s (legally – due to a lax contract) or recycled into the new student hub.

*** P.S. – I would love a reader to comment or find a link to the actual amount of money that was thrown at the issue by council/government to get the decaying demolished hulk out of the plain sight of the CBD  (I think it was called a “relocation fund” ???).  I did some searches and couldn’t find the exact amount.