Manuka precinct gathering speed

By Matthew Biddle

THE much-anticipated Manuka precinct project is progressing rapidly, with the external walls of both the administrative building and the independent living units (ILUs) set to be completed by the end of this month.

Archdiocesan financial manager Helen Delahunty told Catholic Voice Canberra’s dry summer had enabled construction work to continue almost non-stop in the past two months.

“They’re working six days a week and there’s always 60 to 80 workers on the site,” she said.

“We haven’t had much rain since January, so there’s been no hold-ups.”

With the ground floor level complete, work on the second level of the administrative building is now well underway. Once the external walls are erected, work will begin on the internal aspects of the building.

Construction of the Manuka precinct buildings is progressing well, according to Archdiocesan financial manager Helen Delahunty, with
work on track to finish in April 2017. PHOTO: LOUI SESELJA

With just over a year until the project’s proposed completion date, one of the most pressing tasks is to finalise the details of the management of the ILUs, Ms Delahunty said.

“We’ll be marketing the ILUs in the middle of this year, so we’ll be giving out information to all the people who expressed interest, and after that process has been done and people have decided whether to buy them or not, we’ll go out to the public,” she explained.

“Between now and then there will be a lot of decision-making done on exactly how the ILUs are going to be structured and who’s going to look after them.”

The visual progress of the site since Christmas has been a source of great excitement for many, including Ms Delahunty.

“The site’s really coming alive,” she said. “You can start to see the building move out of the scaffolding.

“The most exciting thing about this project is the fact that the Cathedral is going to be a part of the community again. There’s going to be pathways and access points for people to walk around it and through it, so it will feel like a part of the landscape again.”

For more information about the ILUs contact Helen Delahunty on (02) 6201 9800.