THE multi- million dollar revitalisation of the Ipswich CBD is set to be front and centre of the budget handed down by Ipswich Mayor Paul Pisasale today.
Ipswich City Council’s budget will be unveiled at the old fire station building in Limestone St, which is set to become a digital economy incubator known as 1860 – the same year that Ipswich became a municipality.
The building is owned by Ipswich City Development Enterprises (ICDE) and its fit-out and the subsequent installation of digital start-up businesses will be at no cost to the Ipswich ratepayer.
Cr Pisasale said digital start-up tenants were expected to be installed by the end 2015 and that the hub was the first step in a complete transformation of the CBD.
“The digital hub is called 1860 because that is when we became a municipality and identified who we were,” Cr Pisasale said.
“It will reposition the city as a global leader in the field, like we did in 1994 with Global Infolinks.
“The main focus of this budget is to accelerate the development of the CBD.
“The thing that has been holding the CBD back is money but Ipswich City Properties has got Icon stage one finished and now it is time to accelerate stage two.
“That will include the second tower and several other buildings. By the end of the year we will be signing on with a joint venture partner which will see hundreds of millions of dollars in investment that will include a retail hub, opening up the city to the river and the creation of bars and cafes.
“I will be working with the chamber (of commerce) and existing businesses to build our new CBD. When you own the land you can decide what goes on it in the best interests of the city.”
Cr Pisasale said he would like to see library services and possibly council offices relocated to the CBD to be a part of the commercial hub.
Council will invest in a beautification program, but the overall development will once again not cost ratepayers.
It may sound like an anomaly to say the CBD is a focus of the budget when the funds are not coming out of ratepayer’s pockets, but Cr Pisasale said the beauty of ICDE was that it facilitated growth without being a burden on residents.
“The great thing about the fire station is that it shows how every building has to be activated and that is why it was crucial for Ipswich City Development Enterprises to buy it,” he said.
“The digital hub will put Ipswich on the world map and stimulate our CBD with no cost to the ratepayer. Today’s budget is the next stage in turning our vision into a reality.”
Ipswich City Enterprises (ICE) will run 1860.
ICE chairman Cr Paul Tully said the 1860 digital hub initiative “puts Ipswich to the forefront of the emerging international digital economy” and would attract some of the best forward-thinking futurists in the nation.
“We are embracing worldwide technologies which will be a major attractor for forward thinkers to put our city at the centre of the 21st century digital age,” he said.
This hub will be a magnet for young and old alike who will develop exciting models and plans to map our city and Australia’s technological future.
Cr Tully said council was “encouraging the greatest digital technology minds to head west to Ipswich to be part of Australia’s world future”.
“We are all fired-up, ready to go with flames of passion and nothing will hose down this initiative.”