Sports stars lend hand to City Hall appeal
01 June, 2012
Major Brisbane and Queensland sporting codes have rallied together with Lord Mayor Graham Quirk to launch a public appeal to complete fundraising for the $215 million City Hall restoration project.
In an historic show of unity, all six major sporting codes have rallied together to support the National Trust Brisbane City Hall Appeal including Brisbane Roar, Queensland Cricket (Brisbane Heat), Brisbane Broncos, Brisbane Lions, Queensland Firebirds and Queensland Reds.
The sporting stars are lending their support by appearing in promotional material and awareness raising film clips specially created to be played at games held at the Gabba or Suncorp Stadium.
Cr Quirk said the City Hall Appeal had raised just over $19 million in the past three years and was on track to reach its fundraising target of 10 percent of the project’s $215 million cost.
“My administration is getting on with the job of fixing this iconic heritage building and delivering it back to the people of Brisbane with modern building and safety standards,” Cr Quirk said.
“The end of the game for this project is in sight and the support of our sporting teams will help the City Hall Appeal kick some goals as we get towards the end of the match.
“I am committed to this project and delighted that my team’s responsible fiscal management has been able to direct savings from projects such as the Road Action Program towards the $215 million restoration project. During the past four years RAP has delivered total savings of $113.7 million.”
Cr Quirk praised the people of Brisbane for supporting the Appeal in such a generous way and thanked the Save City Hall Committee for their fantastic work to help bring us to this point.
“The City Hall project has coincided with tough economic conditions including the GFC and the impact of the January 2011 floods so the raising of $19 million is a tremendous achievement,” he said.
“I also thank the 60,000 ratepayers who have voluntarily supported the program as well as individual donors, corporates and community groups as well as the Federal Government.”
Chairman of the Save City Hall Committee Geoff Rodgers said the goal now was to raise a further $2.3 million for the Appeal by 2013 to bring the total support secured to $21.5 million in what is one of the largest fundraising campaigns undertaken by a local government authority.
“Our hope is that the corporate sector and wider community will get behind this historic project and help Brisbane reach this funding target,” he said.
City Hall Appeal summary
For information about the project visit www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/cityhall or call 3403 8888.
• $2.5 million in voluntary $15 rates donations from 60,000 households (incl multiple donations)
• $6.7 million in 1,430 donations with Clem Jones Foundation at $2 million the largest donor.
• $10 million in Federal Government grant.
