A community meeting on the Griffith Base Hospital (GBH) lawn on Saturday to save the old nurses quarters has left the community divided.
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While around 60 passionate residents lead by Sherene Blumer and joined by ‘Save The Griffith Base Hospital’ group have expressed their outrage at the decision to “waste” the building, other Griffith residents like Greg Adamson and Lisa Davis have come forward to say the decision is “about more than bricks and mortar.”
Next step
Building designer Sherene Blumer thanked everyone for coming to the meeting at GBH, and implored them to come to the next Council meeting on Tuesday May 8.
“It’s the next step in stopping the demolishing of the building… Please be there to show your support and help stop the demolition of the Nurses Quarters.”
President of Save the Griffith Base Hospital Committee Jenna Woodland has joined the fight to save the nurses building, and said the decision to demolish needed to be put on hold until transparent information was given to the community.
A piece of Griffith’s history
Retired nurse Meryl Barraclough joined others on the lawn on Saturday, and she is shocked at the “apathy, complacency and arrogance” of Council and State Government and say they “need a wake-up call.”
“I’ve lived in Griffith for 50 years, and other people have been in this town for a long time and we appreciate the little heritage we do have – Griffith is only a young town so it stands to reason that a beautiful building be kept and used,” Ms Barraclough said.
“I can’t understand why they don't spend that money to make a use of it – it will cost money to demolish for what purpose? A temporary home during the hospital build and then empty space? A carpark? It’s a kick in the guts.”
“It could be used as another facility for the hospital, or leased to make money to put back into it – there are so many options.”
Building vs lives
However Mr Adamson and Ms Davis said this fight doesn’t represent the interests of the wider community.
While they respect the sentiment to save a socially valuable building, they ask: “How many lives is a building worth?”
Mr Adamson doesn’t want to see others have to fly to Sydney to watch their loved ones die at a great emotional, financial and physical cost, like Ms Davis did with her father.
“I have attended meetings with the MLHD… I know this building needs to go so people in Griffith get the facilities they desperately need without travelling,” Mr Adamson said.
Ms Davis is fearful the funding allocated to the hospital will be taken away if this fight continues.
“The government has a history of promising funds then taking them away – just look at what happened with the school merger – funding was dramatically cut because people couldn’t agree.”
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