The Hodgman Government is committed to upgrading important parks infrastructure to improve the visitor experience in our amazing national parks, and improve environmental sustainability.
I am pleased to announce that Westbury construction company Valley Workshop has been awarded the contract to demolish and replace the hut and toilet facilities at Lake Tahune on the Frenchmans Cap walking track, worth $450,000.
The current facilities are at the end of their projected life, and improvements were necessary to meet current and forecast demand into the future.
The new hut will double the sleeping capacity at the site, providing accommodation for 24 walkers as well as two rangers. Additional deck area will provide a hardened surface around the hut for seating and cooking.
Valley Workshop will use environmentally structural insulated panels (eSIP) to construct the hut and toilet facilities.
A Tasmanian innovation, the certified eSIP panels have been designed and built by Valley Workshop in collaboration with Tasmanian businesses Warren French Architect and Frontier Engineers.
The replacement of Tahune Hut and toilet has been funded through the Tasmania Government’s Tourism Infrastructure Fund which is helping to maintain and enhance visitor experiences so that Tasmania’s national parks can reach their full tourism potential.
It will be a fitting culmination to the 10 year program to upgrade the Frenchmans Cap experience made possible by the generous philanthropic donation from Dick Smith of $1 million over 10 years which has been matched by the Parks and Wildlife Service.
Work will be conducted over three stages with the first stage involving construction of the new toilet building commencing this month and is expected to be completed by mid-April 2017. The Lake Tahune hut will be closed during this period.
Walkers will be able to access and use the Lake Tahune hut between mid-April 2017, after stage one is completed, and early January 2018, when work on the third and final stage commences.