ST GEORGE Hospital has proposed demolishing a 122-year-old "historically significant" Kogarah house to make room for its new emergency department.
Griffith House is a two-storey Victorian Italianate villa on Gray Street which was built in 1890 by then-mayor Peter Herrmann, a German immigrant.
Director of operations for St George and Sutherland hospitals, Cath Whitehurst, said the house would be demolished pending DA approval.
Ms Whitehurst said a consultant took a heritage impact assessment of the building as part of the emergency department development process.
"The heritage impact assessment concluded that Griffith House, whilst having regional heritage significance, is not heritage listed," she said.
"The heritage impact assessment determined the building should be recorded and the site interpreted in relation to the contribution of Griffith House to the local history of Kogarah. These arrangements are under way."
But Kogarah local studies librarian John Johnson said the council considered the building to have local significance.
"It's not showing up on the heritage office website but it is showing up in the local environmental plan," he said.
"It's definitely listed, but it doesn't show up on the heritage database."
The NSW Office of Environment and Heritage lists the house as a heritage item through Kogarah Council's local environmental plan.
A statement of significance on its website said the house was historic because it represented substantial residential development following construction of the Illawarra railway line and Kogarah Town Centre.
The website said: "This residence commands a 'key' prominent position obtaining views over Kogarah Bay. This residence is historically significant with its associations with a former mayor and local identity".
Kogarah historian Beverley Earnshaw said it was "terrible" that the "very significant house" could be demolished.
Should Griffith House make way for the emergency department?
