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Public to choose Jetty’s AUDC design

Catherine MasseyBusselton Dunsborough Times

Plans for a bigger Underwater Observatory at the Busselton Jetty are well under way and now locals have been asked to choose a design for the iconic building.

A whale, sea rocks, and a nautical theme are the three designs up for discussion at Monday’s public session, to make the new Australian Underwater Discovery Centre the best it can be.

The plans to construct a bigger observatory were a long time coming as the current 17-year-old UWO starts to feel the pressure of massive tourist numbers.

Busselton Jetty chair Barry House said the new AUDC was set to be a game changer for tourism and would be the largest natural marine observatory in the world.

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“In 2017 we started looking at how to meet visitor demand and ... determined that expanding our current unique marine offering was the best way to grow and meet our environmental goals,” he said.

Construction is expected to create around 200 jobs, with many more expected to emerge once finished.

“Cafes, hotels, service stations, retail stores, bus companies, trade agents (will) all prosper, returning some $200m in economic benefit to WA,” Mr House said.

Jetty CEO Lisa Shreeve said the current Underwater Observatory would become a Marine Research Centre promoting Clean Oceans and feature public interaction with World Class Researchers and a Laboratory to educate people about oceanic climate change.

“From 12,000 visitor surveys in five years, people would like to see more interaction with the marine environment and extra food and beverage options at the end of the Jetty,” Ms Shreeve said.

The public consultation sessions will take place on Monday December 21 at Railway House from 1.30pm to 2.30pm, and 5.30pm to 6.30pm.

Anyone is welcome, however RSVP is required, visit http://tix.yt/audc-presentation-dec-2020.

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