What could have been for Albany foreshore highlighted in recently released 1992 State Cabinet minutes

Recently released State Cabinet minutes have offered a reminder of what plans were being considered for Albany’s Foreshore redevelopment in the early 1990s. State Cabinet records are released from the State Archives after a 30-year period, with this year’s release providing insight into an area of Albany still being developed to this day. Minutes from Cabinet meetings in May 1992 detail what was being considered as part of stage three of the foreshore development of a tourism precinct. A staging diagram within the minutes shows the third stage broken up into eight different areas. They included mixed used residential area to the east and west of a civic square which would have been known as York Square. The square would have been at the end of York St in an area similar to the present-day Anzac Peace Park. The area to the west had been identified as the preferred one for residential and it would have doubled as a space for museum and heritage items within its public land. Mixed residential and retail opportunities were proposed to the east of York Square. The next area over, now occupied by the Albany Entertainment Centre, was said to be the preferred site for an 80-room hotel with waterfront access. Spencer Avenue was proposed in a similar alignment to present-day Toll Place. It was proposed as a place for tourist retail as well as presenting opportunities for marine retail. The marina precinct was proposed to cater for the long-term maritime support needs of the Port of Albany (now Southern Ports), the regional fishing fleet and future recreational boating. The minutes also outline a number of potential private investment opportunities that existed within the foreshore area at that point in time. It was reportedly between $20-25 million worth of investor interest of “various degrees” which had occurred with “little promotion”. Included in the potential investment was interest from national retailers involved in a “detailed discussion with the Town of Albany” and two expressions of interest in a future hotel site. The minutes note that “the hotel site is the key to lifting the intensity of development to a new plateau over the next couple of years”. The minutes also note the redevelopment built on a community initiative that arose in the early 1980s called Fredericks Town. The concept was to “physically reunite the central business district with its foreshore” and was taken up by the State Government in 1986. Stage one of the project was the relocation of the rail yards further east and stage two focused on the refurbishment of Stirling Terrace “as a historic backdrop to the project area”. Approval for stage three funding was announced in August 1990 by WA Premier Carmen Lawrence during a visit to Albany. The Advertiser reported at the time that Dr Lawrence emphasised the onus was now on the private sector to play its part in the redevelopment. Planning, preliminary design and initial works were carried out over the subsequent two financial years as the 1992 minutes note funding was provided at a “least cost option” initially to keep the project going through “tough fiscal times”. “The Government now has the opportunity to turn its attention more directly to the Albany project at a time when increased Government commitment will ensure that the enormous potential of this project is realised in an orderly market-driven manner,” the 1992 minutes said. Plans for the development of Albany’s foreshore continue to this day following the opening of the Hilton Garden Inn in 2021 and the AEC in 2010. They include a number of proposed hospitality developments under consideration for vacant lots near the marina.