It's an eyesore considered "out of sight, out of mind" with discarded needles, smashed bottles and broken security fences littering the surroundings of a large, charred brick building in Dickson, waiting on an ACT government resolution and a future vision.
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The land on which the blackened, graffiti-smeared abandoned building sits is prime, multi-million dollar Dickson property.
![The charred, vandalised and abandoned former Salvation Army building in Dickson The charred, vandalised and abandoned former Salvation Army building in Dickson](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/fdcx/doc78ke5a2a2m91munzf5e4.jpg/r0_376_4032_2643_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Ironically, the abandoned building is the former Salvation Army welfare centre, with access off Hawdon Place in Dickson.
The area on which the damaged building sits is zoned CZ6, denoting uses of leisure and accommodation.
In April this year, a government report identified section 72 as "an important site for urban renewal, because of its proximity to the Group Centre, public transport, and a range of existing community facilities and services".
Surrounding businesses in the immediate area include the Canberra Parklands hotel and apartments, the Majura tennis club, a dance school and an arts studio.
![Arsonists targeted the abandoned former Salvation Army Welfare Centre in Dickson twice in one month last year. Photo: Dion Georgopoulos Arsonists targeted the abandoned former Salvation Army Welfare Centre in Dickson twice in one month last year. Photo: Dion Georgopoulos](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/fdcx/doc72mreogsxkj1mz5y0hjn.jpg/r0_212_4143_2541_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
This is where the new Dickson Common Ground was recently given rezoning to provide for a "community facility" on Hawdon Place and where the Minister this month fast-tracked its approval process.
The Common Ground initiative, modelled on a similar project in Gungahlin, will provide 40 one, two and three-bedroom dwellings for women, families and children at risk of, or experiencing, chronic homelessness.
Half of the 20 total dwellings in the common ground will be for supportive housing. The remainder will be community housing comprising affordable rental properties managed by a community housing provider.
The ACT government set aside $2.4 million in the June budget for the site to be prepared. More funding is likely to be allocated in 2019-20.
In late December, as processes stuttered on gaining the required territory variation allowing the community housing project to proceed, ACT Housing Minister Yvette Berry stepped in to provide an interim effect order, placing the project on a so-called "faster pathway".
![An artist's impression of Dickson Section 72 common ground master plan. An artist's impression of Dickson Section 72 common ground master plan.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/fdcx/doc73bsh6w20c1ggp5z6am.jpg/r3_0_1402_786_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
But while this project has finally been given a much-needed boost, just a stone's throw away is the forlorn and shattered Salvation Army premises, abandoned for four years and where vandals have gained access through the insecure fencing.
Broken bottles and drug paraphernalia litter the ground, and the corrugated iron once used to secure the premises is peeled away in places.
The Salvation Army closed the welfare centre in mid-2015 and changed its service delivery model.
Since then, the building has been a regular target of arsonists and vandals. The secluded location adjacent to the Dickson rivulet and with a quiet and often empty carpark nearby, is used for people sleeping rough or in their cars.
In late 2018, the building was deliberately lit for the second time in less than a month.
In its common ground program announcement this month, the ACT government could provide no indication as to the future of the premises, only that "the Environment Planning and Sustainability Development directorate is continuing discussions with Salvation Army regarding the future of Block 22 on Section 72".
![The results of the fire which ripped through the abandoned building in Dickson. Photo: Dion Georgopoulos The results of the fire which ripped through the abandoned building in Dickson. Photo: Dion Georgopoulos](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/fdcx/doc72mreqxp4v5fpjgahjm.jpg/r0_215_4206_2580_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Nearby is Block 6 of Section 72, vacant land where the former headquarters of the CFMEU was located.
The Rosevear Place block was at the centre of a controversial 2014 land deal between the ACT government and the union-linked Tradies club, and which was the subject of an ACT Assembly inquiry.
In a community needs assessment commissioned by the directorate and published this year, recommended future uses for the area could include a youth centre, medical clinics or health and welfare services, or aged day care and residential aged care facilities.
The North Canberra Community Council, in its submission for the future use of Section 72, expressed its concern over the potential for a proliferation of "bulky" apartment blocks and wanted it to be wanted the block to be "revitalised as a high quality community, cultural and recreational precinct".
The Salvation Army was unable to be reached for comment.