The last tenants were being moved from the Dickson Towers in Northbourne Avenue on Tuesday, marking the start of the government’s transformation of the corridor.
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The towers are a set of 21 bedsits in three blocks, housing single men. The government plans to demolish the flats, which lie on the corner of Morphett Street, Dickson, but the ACT Heritage Council is considering a heritage nomination over them.
About half the bedsits are managed by the Canberra Men’s Centre. The community services director of the centre, Gerald Franks, said the men had all moved to one-bedroom or two-bedroom units around the city – in Hawker, Belconnen, Woden or Kambah. The last tenant to leave went to a unit just across the road in the Northbourne Flats.
The men’s centre rents 75 units from ACT Housing and sublets them to men in need. The program helps the men adjust to stable housing and supports them with rent and other help when they need it.
Mr Franks said the units of Dickson Towers had worked well for his tenants. They were well located and had plenty of green space, and bedsits were easier to look after than bigger units.
"If you step back from it and view it thought the Bauhaus lens, there’s a lot of green space and only six or seven units in a block so there’s space for people to adjust to independent living without the pressure of high density," he said.
However, Mr Franks added: "We do have to move on and … this is a huge amount of space for a limited number of tenancies".
While Mr Franks’ tenants are mostly short term, the other public tenants in the blocks have lived there much longer – an average of a decade.
The flats are part of the Northbourne Housing Precinct, and the Heritage Council is fast-tracking its work on a nomination to the ACT Heritage Register.
ACT Heritage Council chairman Duncan Marshall said the nomination was over the entire precinct, which had five housing types and stretched about 500 metres both sides of the road. If the nomination was confirmed, the council would want to see the heritage values protected. This, however, would not rule out renovations, such as new bathrooms or kitchens.
"They look unattractive now but that’s in part because they have not been maintained for a long time," Mr Marshall said. "If they’d been maintained over their life they’d probably look in much better shape, and people would have a much better attitude towards them.
"If you look back at the 1960s photographs that were taken at the time they looked pretty modern and impressive, as they were meant to do. They were meant to be the gateway to Canberra."
The Institute of Architects said the 1959-60 design of the precinct is of the post-war international style, which was influenced by Bauhaus.