Future of hall in limbo

During the last meeting hosted in January, it was proposed that the community take over ownership of the hall, however a decision on the hall’s future is yet to be made by Campaspe Shire Council.

Committee member Paul Monigatti said the community was looking forward to getting the hall back to top condition.

“We’ve got a pretty vibrant committee going. We’ve got some great ideas on refurbishing the hall, getting it fit for purpose and having some functions there,” he said.

“Since we’ve (decided) to stop the hall being knocked down, it’s actually got the community invigorated to work together.

“We’re pretty keen on fundraising to help bring it back up to a useable space. The community is really looking forward to the challenge of making it a great space.”

The hall has been a meeting point for the community for almost a century and has seen plenty of floods in its time.

In an assessment completed by the council, it found that more than 50 per cent of the building needed repairs.

Due to new laws, the building also needs to be compliant with the Disability Discrimination Act and to be raised, considering its location on a flood plain.

Following the assessment, council planned to demolish the building and transform the site into a nature reserve featuring picnic tables, a shelter and informative signage about the site’s history.

However the community was against the idea and fought to keep the building.

Mr Monigatti said despite the damage, the committee wanted to preserve a piece of Strathallan’s heritage.

“We haven’t had access to the hall at all so we’re not really sure what works have got to be done,” he said.

“There's a lot of heritage in the area and and we don't want to lose that.

“For (the) pioneers, for what they’ve done and for the people who have been here over the years — that’s why we need to really save it.”