A Community Project Worth Celebrating

The Bellingen Memorial Hall, the primary arts and cultural facility of the Bellingen Shire, is set for an impressive $4.054m redevelopment – citing increased inclusion, access and broader usage of this facility as the driving motivators. Drawing on the contributions of 46 locals who have represented the hall’s many user-groups, schools, event organisations and more, the Bellingen Shire Council has successfully been awarded The Regional Cultural Fund grant of $3.303m, in addition to previously secured funding.

The Bellingen Memorial Hall Management Committee met with local user groups, architects, designers and the Bellingen Shire Council to finalise the preliminary designs that represented the future direction of the centre.

The resulting redevelopment will be broken down into various stages commencing in 2019. The first of which will include alterations to the existing hall to improve accessibility, bathroom facilities, painting and much needed structural updates, with special consideration given to the retention of its heritage design. The second stage will include an exciting new expanded two-story wing, to be built to the rear of the existing hall. It will include an intimate performance/cinema space with up to 40 retractable seats, a green room, kitchen, accessible bathrooms and an outdoor deck overlooking Bellingen Park, additional storage plus improved & expanded car parking facilities. An internal lift will link the floors. This will allow for multiple simultaneous usage.

Dean Besley of Bello Youth Hub has been a key driver of this community enterprise in conjunction with the Hall Committee. He said “This is indisputably a community project, with 46 local individuals involved in the preparations and application to bring it to this point.” Dean continued, “When this grant application opportunity came up, we were all excited about the idea of, not just fixing it up but rather transforming our hall into a cultural centre for Bello, the hub of creativity and arts. This was our overarching dream”.

The Member for Oxley, the Hon Melinda Pavey M.P. made the announcement to an expectant media at the Bellingen Memorial Hall on Tuesday 11th December, saying, “The creative scope of these architectural works is visionary. The heritage status of the building represents an enormous investment, not just into the hall, but for all the locals and tourists who have been part of this fantastic cultural place”.

The next stage will include a detailed consideration and consultative process with all users and the Bellingen Shire community as a whole. Bellingen Shire Mayor, Cr Dominic King explained that when the Memorial Hall was built almost 100 years ago it represented the very fabric of the community. “It was the ‘glue’ that held the town together. Our hope is that with this restoration and redevelopment, the Bellingen Memorial Hall will once again serve as a focal point of our town.”