Historic Lismore landmark ready to sing again

NORTHERN Rivers Conservatorium is marking a major milestone in its post-flood recovery with a free community open day filled with live music, hands-on workshops and food trucks.

The ReStored at the Con event will showcase performances by the Northern Rivers Youth Jazz Band, Chamber Strings and choir Vox Caldera, highlighting the breadth of talent nurtured within the conservatorium’s walls.

“There will be lots of workshops as well so people will be able to come and try an instrument, with Pure Afro-Cuban beats and early childhood workshops,” executive director Anita Bellman said.

Built in 1902, the Woodlark Street building has long been a cornerstone of the city’s educational and cultural life. It housed Lismore High School before becoming part of Southern Cross University and later a teachers’ college. The conservatorium purchased the historic site from the NSW Department of Education around 2005.

“This building has so much history,” Bellman said. “We want to open the doors and welcome the community in. Anyone who’s interested in the building and what happens inside the building is welcome to come along. There are probably people whose parents or grandparents went to school here.”

Like much of Lismore, the conservatorium was devastated during the February 2022 floods and temporarily relocated to Southern Cross University while recovery efforts began.

“We had four metres of water through the building,” Bellman said. “We had prepped for water to just come through the ground floor, so we’d moved everything up to the first floor. We lost office equipment and a huge number of musical instruments. We had to throw out carpet, cavity walls, insulation. When we rebuilt anything that was a cavity wall is now made from marine grade foam rendered in cement, so it’s waterproof. In some of our teaching rooms we have glass walls so it’s as sustainable as possible for any future events.”

The building works were carried out by Ballina-based Bennett Constructions and project managed by Richard Mason Construction Projects. Upgrades included a new roof, solar installation and a refurbished concert hall.

“We had a portion of work that we funded ourselves and then we received around $4.8 million through Create NSW to continue the restoration work and make improvements to increase the resilience of the building and the organisation,” Bellman said.

“I think the building is looking really, really beautiful and it feels like it’s a gift to the community to have such a beautiful building here in the middle of the CBD.”

The ReStored at the Con open day will take place on Saturday 14 March from 10am to 2pm.