Smart Hub finds new home in Customs House

Published on 07 March 2017

Last year Rockhampton Regional Council earmarked the former heritage Bond Store behind Customs House to become the future site for the Smart Hub – a co-working place for entrepreneurs and start-ups to get their ideas off the ground.

Preliminary designs would have seen the heritage building restored and fitted out with a two storey open plan design, expected to cost $2 million.   

Rockhampton Region Mayor Margaret Strelow said that after designs were presented to the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection, much of the internal structure, specifically the 1920’s  era walls in the lower and upper floors, had to be retained.

“The Bond Store is one of our city’s hidden treasures, and we would very much love to bring it back to life and use it as a place for local people to create and start their businesses, however, its current internal layout would not be conducive for a co-working space,” Mayor Strelow said. 

“We still want to keep the smart hub located within this cultural precinct - it’s an important addition to our city, so we are now looking at whether a portion of Customs House would be suitable.”

As part of Council’s CBD Smart Technologies and Smart Hub project, the Smart Hub fitout budget is made-up of $258,000 from Council’s capital budget and $250,000 from the State Government’s Building Our Regions fund.

“At this early stage, we anticipate that the initial allocation of $508,000 will be sufficient to build the Smart Hub in Customs House.”

Mayor Strelow highlighted that it was important for the Bond Store to be restored and re-purposed in the future and that Council would consider other options for its future use.