Long-running Ballarat family businesses are being forced to shut up shop to make way for a major state government development.
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At least four Sturt Street businesses are facing compulsory acquisition as part of the $540 million Ballarat Base Hospital expansion, with an official declaration published in the Victorian Government Gazette on Tuesday.
The businesses - operating out of a Victorian-era building at 1006 Sturt Street - include a florist, a real estate agency, picture framers, and a dance school.
Under the hospital redevelopment plans, the building will be demolished to make way for a car park and drive way.
A nearby medical clinic has already relocated to make way for the project, but it's understood the landlord at 1006 has resisted selling up.
Some of the businesses have operated out of the building for more than 25 years, with staff that started as teenagers now in management roles.
Staff who did not want to be identified told The Courier the feeling since finding out early last year they would be required to vacate had been "awful" and that the already "lengthy" process showed no signs of a swift resolution.
"We know we have to move, we're waiting to find out when," they said.
"It's awful because we've got no idea what's happening.
"There's no debate it's going to be knocked over in the not-too-distant future.
"But it's the uncertainty, the sleepless nights.
"None of us know what's happening except that we can't stop it."
Making matters worse, staff said, was the uncertainty around the acquisition process timeline.
One business said they'd initially been told they'd be out by February this year, but the state election and caretaker government requirements were believed to have pushed things back.
Some businesses have started looking for alternative locations to trade from, but others said relocating was simply not viable and the only option was to permanently close.
Heritage advocates are adamant the building should be retained and incorporated into the hospital design.
It is not protected under the Victorian Heritage Register but is included under a City of Ballarat heritage overlay (HO167) as historically significant at a local level.
Heritage Watch president Stuart Kelly said the building was one of the only triple facades of its kind left in Ballarat and its proposed demolition was an example of the "piecemeal destruction of the streetscape".
"If you lose one [historic building], that's fine - but you lose another one, then another one, and eventually there's nothing left worth saving - or they become so rare you've got to put them in moth balls," he said.
City of Ballarat councillor and Heritage Advisory Committee chair Samantha McIntosh said it was "very frustrating, very sad" and "disrespectful to our community" that the state government had "not considered" the local heritage overlay.
Cr McIntosh agreed with Mr Kelly that the building could have formed a usable part of the expanded hospital if the will was there.
"It's an attitude thing," she said.
"There's no reason that if those shops were considered at the beginning of their planning, if the heritage was given the respect we as a city have given it with a heritage overlay, then we should see them in the final draft, we should see them in the final delivery of the hospital build."
A state government spokesperson said it was working with Grampians Health to "look at ways to ensure that any local historical significance are captured and reflected in the redevelopment".
"We intend to explore these options with the successful builder appointed to deliver this significant project for Ballarat and surrounding communities," the spokesperson said.
The hospital redevelopment - expected to be completed by 2027 - includes a new emergency department, helipad, women and children's hub, state-of-the-art theatre suite, 100 additional inpatient and short stay beds, and an extra 400 car parking spaces.
The building at 1006 is near the proposed entrance to the the hospital's new emergency department, which aims to address issues raised by patients and the community around access, wayfinding and parking.
All affected parties have been provided with a statement of rights, which details their rights in relation to the acquisition of the property.
A Heritage Impact Assessment was completed as part of the planning process.
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