PLANNING FOR a beating Gold Coast cultural heart has been underway for many years. Community awareness and support has grown through successive Council and community initiatives.
With a compelling case for development of a cultural precinct, the City of Gold Coast selected Evandale.
Framed by the Nerang River, the site has spectacular views east to the coastal skyline and the city’s mountain backdrop to the west.
Evandale is currently home to The Arts Centre Gold Coast which, since its establishment 25 years ago, has outgrown its visual and performing arts facilities.
And when the world’s eyes are trained on the Gold Coast during the 2018 Commonwealth Games, the city also wants the spotlight to shine on its wealth of artistic talent, cultural diversity and creative enterprise.
To help realise the vision for a new cultural precinct at Evandale, an international design competition commenced in March 2013. The competition trained some of the world’s best design minds on the Gold Coast’s cultural future.
There is a growing need for a centre of gravity for the Gold Coast’s thriving cultural and artistic activity. This need has prompted the City of Gold Coast Council to form a Vision for a central cultural precinct at Evandale.
A cultural precinct will create a focal point, a new kind of civic square that will be a destination for locals and tourists. It will be a place where people come together to engage with arts, culture and each other, a place that ‘makes visible’ the Gold Coast’s cultural and creative life.
The precinct will build creative networks and support the dispersed creative sector, producing tangible community, cultural and economic benefits throughout the city.
In 2018, this cultural precinct will also be integral to the success of the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games: as a ‘live site’ with a focus on arts and cultural programming.
The City of Gold Coast's vision is that when completed, the Gold Coast Cultural Precinct will include drama, music, dance, art, new media and public sculpture, as well as creative educational opportunities and an extensive outdoor program of activities that make the most of the exceptional public space opportunities of Evandale.
The precinct will be relevant to modern forms of cultural expression and learning. It will be digital and interactive, appealing to children, families and school groups… with high quality rehearsal venues, theaters and halls with quality acoustics and a place to explore creative talent.
It will be a precinct for the entire community and the city’s visitors.
