HAWTHORN TOWN HALL RE-EMERGES AS THE HAWTHORN ARTS CENTRE,
HERALDING A NEW ERA OF ARTS & CULTURE
This November, the Hawthorn Town Hall will open after 18 months of redevelopment re-emerging as the Hawthorn Arts Centre, a first class Arts and Cultural facility for the City of Boroondara. Converted into a new heritage inspired arts and cultural space, the Hawthorn Arts Centre will be a community, cultural and heritage hub giving priority to the presentation of arts and cultural activities.
With the vision to create ‘a city of harmony where citizens can celebrate, share, express and experience a rich arts and culture’, Boroondara Mayor, Councillor Jack Wegman said: “It will be the centre for Boroondara’s artistic and cultural life, and an important feature on greater Melbourne’s artistic landscape.”
The essence of the transformation was to preserve the proud heritage of the Hawthorn Town Hall, whilst creating a premiere cultural precinct for the wider community. The upgraded facility will support and place emphasis on the presentation of diverse visual art and performing arts programs, civic events, as well as community and corporate activities.
Key features of the redevelopment include internal renovation works and restoration of the façade, but more specifically:
• Refurbishment of the Main Hall and surrounding spaces including new kitchens, amenities & meeting rooms
• A new arts studio and workshop spaces
• A new Gallery with expanded exhibition spaces
• A new café and retail area
• A refreshed annex building – with updated façade & entry
As part of the redevelopment, many of the spaces in the new Hawthorn Arts Centre have been renamed; some of them in honour of people prominent in Hawthorn’s history.
The official community launch of the facility will be from Thursday 21 to Sunday 24 November during which the community, potential hirers, industry peers, media and other audiences will have the opportunity to view the various spaces with four days of diverse and innovative multi-disciplinary arts programming – a mix of ticketed and free events. Additionally, a number of community arts projects currently in development will culminate at the launch.
With an estimated budget of $17.9 million, Peddle Thorp Melbourne Pty Ltd., one of Australasia’s largest and most established practices, was appointed as the architects for the redevelopment – both the renovation and the conceptual design of the new performance space.
The Centre is now taking bookings for private events from Tuesday 1 October. The official Hawthorn Arts Centre website is currently in development and will be launched Sunday 1 September. For further enquiries, please visit http://www.boroondara.vic.gov.au/our-city/arts-culture/hawthorn-arts-centre-information
