Once slated for relocation to make way for a Dragons training facility, the heritage-listed huts at the Innovation Campus have been granted a reprieve.
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Revised plans for the St George Illawarra Dragons high performance centre have been lodged with Wollongong City Council.
Among the changes is the retention of the Quonset and Nissen huts which formed part of what was then known as the Balgownie Migrant Hostel operating between 1951 and 1982.
Late last year, the Dragons lodged a development application to deconstruct the huts and relocate them elsewhere on the site.
If the amended application for the high performance centre is accepted, the Dragons would remove the call to relocate the huts.
The change was made following discussions with council heritage officers, NSW Heritage and the Migration Heritage Project.
"The huts are now proposed to remain in their current position with no works proposed to the huts or within the heritage curtilage," the amended statement of environmental effects said.
"Keeping the huts in their existing position on the site will help preserve the heritage significance for the local community and visitors.
"This will also prevent any risk to the huts that may have occurred as a result of the dismantling and relocation process."
The original plan for relocation stressed the huts were at risk of damage due to flooding if left where they were.
However, the revised application includes a 300 millimetre-high diversion wall to be incorporated into the landscaping and built in front of the huts to reduce that flooding risk.
A heritage study lodged as part of the revised application noted that only one of the three huts - which now houses the Kids Uni day care centre - is in its original position, the other two being moved to their current location in 2005.
The study found, with the huts remaining in situ, the high performance centre would have a "negligible impact" on the historical structures.
With the huts remaining in their current location, various other aspects of the development have also been revised.
The main building and field will be moved to the south and the community playing field planned for the north-west portion of the site will be adjusted to accommodate the huts.
Also, the number of floodlights on the community field will be reduced from six to four.
The revised development application is on public exhibition until October 9.
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Glen Humphries
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
