LAND for up to 200 homes next to the Fort Largs Police Academy will be released next month.

The State Government is selling a 7.4ha piece of land at Taperoo, to help recoup the cost of a $53 million overhaul of the police academy on the eastern part of the site.

However, several heritage groups have raised concerns about the government’s plans to sell the site’s 1880s State Heritage-listed fort, saying it should be preserved and turned into a tourist attraction.

State Government land agency Renewal SA did not respond to questions about how many homes could be built on the land, but Raine and Horne Semaphore principal Kate Smith estimated it would be suitable for about 150-200.

“I think it will be incredibly popular because the position is fantastic,” Ms Smith said.

“It’s an elevated position there with uninterrupted water views.”

What do you think of the plans to sell off the Fort Largs land at Taperoo? Leave your comment below.

Ms Smith said any development of the fort itself would have to be done in sympathy with its heritage.

“You might get a developer who somehow may create apartments or something like that there,” she said.

Century 21 Beachside and Lakes principal Rosalie Grickage said the land in Taperoo was “beautiful” and in a “prime spot” on a hill with views to the ocean.

“The position it’s in is really convenient to the new North Haven Shopping Centre, which is being renovated,” Ms Grickage said.

A Renewal SA spokesman the site would come up for sale at the end of April.

He said it would be sold as a whole and its use would depend on the new owner.



The fort was built in 1883 during the “Russian scare” when South Australian politicians were worried about invasion from the ocean.

Three Russian ships arrived in Glenelg without notice the previous year, reigniting fears from the 1850s that led to the construction of Fort Glanville in Semaphore Park.

It was used by the Defence Force in World War I and II in handed over to the SA Police in 1961 to be used as a police academy.

The new Fort Largs Police Academy on the eastern side of the site opened in 2012 and features a scenario village, a mock police station and cadet barracks.

Port of Adelaide National Trust co-secretary Fiona McConchie said the fort should not be sold, and instead could be turned into a museum.

“Maybe it could be a police or military museum, or a community group could use it, such as the Scouts,” Ms McConchie said.

Ms McConchie said she was concerned Fort Largs could go the same way as the 1928-built Missions to Seamen Hall in Outer Harbor, which was demolished in 2004 after owner Flinders Ports petitioned for its state heritage listing to be removed.

“It’s particularly important to protect what we have on the (Lefevre) Peninsula because there’s not a lot left,” she said.

Port Adelaide Historical Society president Doug West said he was also concerned about the future of the fort.

“We’d hope the heritage order stands up – not like the Seamen’s order,” Mr West said.

“The main thing is they don’t touch the fort – the historic bit – and the guns.”

Fort Glanville Historical Association co-ordinator Stan Heycox said Fort Largs might be a suitable headquarters for the SA Police Historical Society, which is now in Thebarton.

“Surely there would be a historical organisation that could take over it,” Mr Heycox said.

Renewal SA declined to comment on the heritage status of the fort.

What do you think of the plans to sell off the Fort Largs land at Taperoo? Leave your comment below.