A revamp of the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre has likely been canned, with the state government stating its priority was the delivery of its hospital building program.
WA Premier Roger Cook announced the redevelopment in January 2024, stating that bringing the building to the river would “right a historic wrong”, and that “our city deserves better than a shed on the river”.
Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre concept images from Wyllie and Brookfield.
Now, more than a year later, there are reports that the project has been shelved after the state government had already spent $35.5 million.
The works, which were meant to get underway in October, were predicted to cost $1.6 billion according to media reports – although leaseholders Wyllie and Brookfield had declined to put a firm price tag on the project.
When asked by this masthead whether the redevelopment had been scrapped, a government spokesperson said that “the priority for the government is the delivery of our hospital building program”.
“We have worked closely with leaseholders for the past two years and greatly admire their commitment to the PCEC and the broader tourism and hospitality sectors,” they said.
“As a part of the government’s mid-year review process, we have been working through the priorities for our capital works budget. The government will formally announce outcomes from this process very soon.
“As we have done over the last 8½ years, we won’t hesitate in making the difficult decisions necessary to keep our budget strong and deliver the infrastructure and services Western Australians need.”
The redevelopment plans have recently caused concerns over the impact they would have on traffic.
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