Ballarat’s refurbished Civic Hall officially re-opens in March

CIVIC Hall would be officially re-opened at 9am on Friday, 1 March.

The announcement came following the acceptance of a refurbished Ballaarat coat of arms by City of Ballarat Mayor Cr Samantha McIntosh at the most recent council meeting.

The artwork was painted by well-known Ballarat artist and sign writer Angus Henderson and originally hung in the foyer of Civic Hall.

It officially presented to the City of Ballarat by Save Civic Hall members Merle Hathaway, Judith Buchanan and Gary Fitzgerald.

The history of Civic Hall stretches back to its opening in 1956 when it was the largest gathering space for cultural, civic, and commercial events in the region.

The planning and building of the Hall was undertaken by an inspiring whole-of-community effort.

Selkirks brickwork provided 580,000 bricks while the timber came from the Otways in big 12 x 2-foot planks that were sawn on site.

The concrete, mixed by workers on site, consisted of Mt. Egerton sand, white gravel from Allendale, and cement from Geelong.

For 30 years Civic Hall hosted all manner of social, artistic and public events.

INXS, AC/DC, Slim Dusty, Olivia Newton John, John Farnham and Cold Chisel were just a few of a long line-up of star performers who took to the stage. The Hall also hosted debutante balls, dances, Begonia Festival events, exhibitions, rallies, Royal South Street competitions and even bingo.

In the late 80s it fell into a decade of decline, finally closing in 2002.

The building lay dormant until 2010 when the City of Ballarat voted to establish a community advisory committee to help with development of the City’s use of space for office accommodation.

Three options were considered – retention and adaptation of Civic Hall, partial demolition, and complete demolition and new building developed.

A protracted campaign by the Save Civic Hall group, founded in October 2013, began in opposition to the City of Ballarat seeking a planning permit to demolish building.

The group fought not only against the social and environmental cost of demolition but also to raise awareness and promote Civic Hall and its possibilities for community use, gathering over 2,000 formal objections to demolition by 2014.

Council abandoned the demolition application in late 2015 to begin work on stage one of the current redevelopment.

After the official re-opening Civic Hall will be accessible to a limited number of people on guided tours while Saturday, 2 March will see a grand community celebration held in the newly-restored space.

A Begonia Ball, an evening of fabulous food and brilliant local entertainment, will bring to life the building’s glory days while celebrating its future as a space the entire community can enjoy and take pride in.

“We want this to be special, but we also want this to be an event that reflects what the hall means to the community,” said Cr McIntosh.

“The entertainment itself will tell the story of the fabulous events hosted at the hall in its heyday, while also showcasing its potential to once again host the who’s who of the music industry and cement itself as a key multi-format event space that adds to the city’s offering as a creative city,” she said.

600 tickets for the Begonia Ball are available for purchase by visiting hermaj.com, calling 5333 5888 or by visiting the temporary box office situated at the Mining Exchange shop front.

Tickets for the guided tour are also available through the hermaj.com website.