PUTTING THE ART IN HOBART
At the corner of Campbell and Collins streets in central Hobart, the building taking shape seems like any other urban construction site. But this US$70 million project, called The Hedberg, has global ambitions. A joint endeavor between state and federal authorities and the University of Tasmania (UTAS), it will put this city’s performing arts on the world stage when it opens early next year, housing a new campus for the university’s Conservatorium of Music, performance spaces of varying dimension and scope loaded with hi-tech wizardry, and a full recording studio. The facility will also encompass the adjacent Theatre Royal, an 1837 landmark that is the oldest working theater in Australia. It’s an ambitious undertaking for a city of 200,000 stationed at the cusp of a continent.
“The Hedberg will do for Hobart what MONA [Museum of Old and New Art] did,” said Conservatorium director Andrew Legg, who has been involved in the project for more than a decade. “You will hear and see things here you have never
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