Updated May 09, 2017 13:06:59

Photo: A concrete slab, originally described as a barge, could potentially be used again. (ABC News: Matt Coleman)

Two months have passed since the Adelaide Festival finished but a large concrete slab remains embedded in the city's River Torrens, creating an eyesore for tourists in a precinct the city boasts as one of its prettiest.

The slab was used to support the Riverbank Palais, a "floating" structure that housed bands and bars as part of the festival's temporary Parc Palais hub.

The lights and crowds have long since gone and the two-metre-high slab has become a resting place for seagulls and ducks — passed weekly by tens of thousands of people on their way to AFL football at Adelaide Oval.

Photo: The slab sits in shallow water and is used by birds. (ABC News: Matt Coleman)

Adelaide Park Lands Preservation Association president Shane Sody questioned whether Adelaide City Council was enforcing its own regulations.

"Normally when they give permission for erecting anything in the Park Lands — and the Torrens is part of the Park Lands — they have a requirement that whatever you put up you've got to put down, get rid of," he said.

"It stands to reason, clean up your own mess."

He said the slab had been in place much longer than necessary and the association wanted it gone.

"When the hell are they going to get rid of it?"

Adelaide City Councillor Anne Moran said it was currently preparing a report into the future of the "barge" and admitted that it did "look like a bit of an ugly hulk on the Torrens".

She said the festival's organisers wanted to keep the barge in place for another event in July but it was up to them to "present a good case".

"Done well, I would imagine the council would be amenable to it staying there all the time," Ms Moran said.

"If they aren't forthcoming, then I think the council will after July ask them to remove it as per the original agreement but that's not to say they're not open, or I'm not open, to good ideas."

Adelaide Festival executive director Rob Brookman said conversations were continuing with Adelaide City Council as well as the Riverbank Authority about the immediate future for the Riverbank Palais.

Photo: The Riverbank Palais offered live entertainment and bars throughout the Adelaide Festival. (Lucesco Lighting)

Topics: arts-and-entertainment, events, visual-art, adelaide-5000, sa

First posted May 09, 2017 11:14:56