Downer has been awarded a $6.9 million contract for work to revitalise Broome’s Chinatown streetscape, with works on Carnarvon Street and Dampier Terrace to start this month.
Downer has been awarded a $6.9 million contract for work to revitalise Broome’s Chinatown streetscape, with works on Carnarvon Street and Dampier Terrace to start this month.
The work will include improving shade, alfresco meeting places and street furniture, trees, green spaces and measures to reduce traffic, with work to be completed in 2019.
Inclusion of local content was one key criteria for the project, while the designs will reference local heritage and history, with Kimberley wood and stone to be used.
Chinatown is on a narrow strip of land between Broome International Airport and Dampier Creek.
The area was first urbanised in the 1880s, when pearling crews set up camp at the location.
The streetscape revitalisation comprises two of the seven subprojects either under way or in planning that comprise the Chinatown revitalisation, with a total value of nearly $13 million.
One sub-project, upgrading the intersection of Dampier terrace and Frederick Street, is already complete.
Other sub-projects include the Kimberley Centre for Culture, Art and Story, and tourist rest facilities.
Regional Development Minister Alannah MacTiernan claimed Broome’s Chinatown district was woven into the heart of the nation.
"This revitalisation project is aimed at protecting that standing and developing economic benefits that can flow to the local community,” Ms MacTiernan said.
"These works will provide a vastly improved public space for tourists and for locals.
"It is also one of the first projects in Western Australia where the contractor has been required to implement a local participation plan to document the extent of local business involvement in the project, as part of the state government's new WA industry participation strategy.
"The project partners, led by the Shire of Broome, have worked closely with contractors to structure an approach to the work that will minimise disruption to businesses and the continuous operation of Chinatown throughout construction."
It comes two days after the company was awarded a $286 million contract for mining services at the Commodore coal mine, owned by Millmeran Power Partners, while in July Downer won a $160 million engineering and construction contract for work at the Numurkah solar farm.
Shares in Downer fell 0.3 per cent to be $7.71 each.
