ONE DAY CLOSURE AT CULTURAL CENTRE

The Cultural Centre at South Bank will be shut to the public on Sunday 3 June 2007 to enable a series of critical generator tests to be coordinated across the precinct.

Arts Minister Rod Welford said the shutdown would include the Queensland Art Gallery, Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA), State Library of Queensland, Queensland Museum, Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC), the three Cultural Centre public car parks and all Cultural Centre cafes and shops.

“The shutdown is necessary to guarantee public safety during the unpredictable impacts of the testing as it may affect the buildings’ and car parks’ emergency systems,” Mr Welford said.

“New generators were installed last year as part of the construction of the new Cultural Centre and the testing is a vital contractual requirement.

“The generators supply the Cultural Centre with essential services and it is necessary to ensure they are operating safely and efficiently.”

Specialists will work with Energex to test services and equipment across the Cultural Centre and there will be intermittent outages of power supply throughout the day.

The testing, which takes place from 6am to 9.30pm, will also affect outdoor lighting with staggered blackouts in:

• the Cultural Centre’s public spaces
• the Cultural Centre tunnel
• the pedestrian overpass above the Cultural Centre bus station at Melbourne Street
• the subway underpass connecting QPAC to the Art Gallery/Museum car park
• pedestrian lights near the Cultural Centre’s mooring pontoon in the Brisbane River.

Increased security measures are being developed for the evening.

All buildings and services will re-open on Monday 4 June 2007 with their normal operating hours.

Media contact: Marnie Stitz on 3237 1000 or 0419 734 985