St Mary's Alice Springs site preparation works

The Department of Logistics and Infrastructure (DLI) is conducting site preparation works at the former St Mary’s Hostel (St Mary’s) Alice Springs site in Kilgariff.

The staged works will support the land being made ready for a future social housing development. Works include:

• soil remediation
• demolition of identified buildings
• removal of obsolete services and replacement with new services and infrastructure.

From 1 September, works will take place Monday to Saturday, 7am to 5pm and are due for completion in December 2026, weather permitting.

The staged works are expected to be completed as follows:

Purpose of the works

The St Mary’s site in Alice Springs is being developed as a future social housing site. To provide a development-ready site, demolition and remediation works will be required as part of a staged development. Enabling infrastructures will form part of the full scope of work to enable future developments.

Removal of contaminated materials

Contaminated concrete and soil will be taken to an interstate licensed waste facility.

Project budget

A budget of $14 million has been allocated for the enabling infrastructure works for the St Mary’s site.

Access to the site

Controlled access to the Heritage listed land will be maintained for visitors through the project office located on site.

For the safety of visitors and works crew, anyone attending the site must attend the site office first.

Building demolition and retention

A site inspection has identified 16 buildings at the St Mary’s site that require demolition.

Demolition and site clearance will take place over 3 stages from September to December 2026.

The St Mary’s Chapel, Yellow Cottage and historic chimney and fireplace will be retained as part of the Heritage Declaration Area.

In addition, all sacred trees, including the Tree of Knowledge, will be protected during the works. The St Mary’s site is subject to sacred site protections under the Northern Territory Aboriginal Sacred Sites Act 1989.

Timeframe

Site preparation work will begin 31 August and are due for completion in December 2026.

Impacts for residents

The work will take place from 7am to 5pm, Monday to Saturday. Residents who live nearby may experience a temporary increase in noise, vibrations and construction traffic. All efforts will be made to reduce impacts.

Contact

For more information on site preparation works, contact DLI Program Manager Tony O’Donohoe on 0429 990 151 or email anthony.odonohoe@nt.gov.au.

For more information about the St Mary’s site development, go to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Community Development website.