Tamworth Regional Council’s Customer Service and Development Hub has officially moved to their new location at 474 Peel Street Tamworth today.
The move was required due to a failure of the air conditioning system at the old site in June year, which provided all heating, cooling and air circulation in three of the five floors.
During repair works, asbestos was found in the form of fire proofing Vermiculite, which meant that the replacement of this air conditioning system was not possible without first removing the asbestos containing material.
Ray Walsh House was built in the 1970s, and purchased by Council in the 1990s. There has been regular maintenance on the building but an increased number of urgent issues revealed the need for a longer term solution.
Last September, councillors voted in support of engaging Public Works from the Department of Regional NSW to project manage the multi-million dollar remediation and refurbishment of Ray Walsh House due to their significant experience in removing asbestos.
Council was forced to relocate about 280 staff from the five-level building to other office space since the failure of the air conditioning. It is estimated the project to relocate staff, remove the asbestos, and repair Ray Walsh House may take almost three years to complete. The cost of the work will be made public as each phase progresses, but is estimated to cost over $2 million.
All the services previously available at Ray Walsh House are now accessible from the new location.
474 Peel Street was chosen as the new location as it is a Council-owned building and is in close proximity to the centre of Tamworth’s CBD to ensure convenience for residents accessing Council’s services.
Ray Walsh House will now close in preparation for the remediation works, which are expected to begin in the first half of this year.
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