Work underway on Tilba Halls Future Resilience Project

The members of the steering committee of the Tilba Halls Future Resilience Project are delighted – and relieved – that construction has finally begun.

The upgrade and extension project secured $1.048 million from the Federal and NSW governments’ Bushfire Local Economic Recovery Fund (BLERF) in June 2021. It provided the opportunity to complete an unfinished project from 20 years ago.

The steering committee comprises three members of the Central Tilba School of Arts Trust (CTSOAT) and three from Southcoast Health and Sustainability Alliance (SHASA).

Tony Lowe of SHASA said the work on the building started in December with site work and some demolition. The major works on the rear extension began in mid-January.

The challenging project will bring the two timber halls up to current standards for public buildings while preserving their historical nature.

Janine Halasz, president of CTSOAT, said it would provide a multipurpose venue that was larger than the Narooma Surf Life Saving Club and Cobargo School of Arts Hall, with seating for up to 100 people.

“We can have three different groups in here at the same time,” she said.

The big hall has great acoustics and the small hall’s stage is ideal for theatre productions.

Before the halls were barricaded off, they hosted the weekly Tilba market, CWA Tilba branch meetings and a dance group.

Ms Halasz said the halls’ new facilities, including commercial kitchen, designated meeting room, and storage area, should attract additional groups. She hopes they can also be used for conferences and weddings, bringing valuable income to pay the higher insurance premium.

Other improvements include solar panels, batteries and an emergency power generator so the halls can operate during emergencies, plus a lift from upstairs so that the new toilet facilities downstairs meet the accessibility standards. There will also be a fire booster pump for the sprinkler system that will be in a separate enclosure.

These additions provide residents of the National Trust villages of Central Tilba and Tilba Tilba with a heatwave and bushfire smoke haven in the downstairs meeting room.

Mr Lowe said there would be “massive work” to make the walls, doors and windows fire-retardant.

“The north and south walls have to be completely stripped and filled with fire-retardant material and boards put back on,” he said.

Like many multi-million dollar BLERF projects, the Tilba halls upgrade has experienced substantial delays and cost blowouts.

The escalated costs were partly caused by the global supply chain problems associated with the COVID pandemic. Additionally, with so much rebuilding and economic stimulus projects after the Black Summer bushfires, the resulting competition for building materials and tradespeople led to dramatic cost increases.

The project is now expected to cost $3.02 million.

Ms Halasz said finding consultants willing and able to do the extremely specialised and technical work associated with upgrades in the National Trust village was a big contributing factor.

“We have had to find consultants for every aspect, hence the costs and delays,” she said. “So many consultants would not take it on because of the difficulty or started but then stopped.”

Mr Lowe said it was extraordinarily difficult to find a building certifier. “We ended up having to get someone from Sydney and another consultant came from South Australia,” he said.

Another challenge was the boundaries. CTSOAT does not own the land behind the halls, so it had to negotiate easements with the neighbours. It had to do the negotiations twice.

“We had agreement to buy land from both neighbours but they had both moved on, so we had to start another round of negotiations,” Mr Lowe said.

Ms Halasz said Chris and Robyn Scroggy of Sweetwater Bar had been amazing.

“Without the easements with them, we would not have been able to build because there wasn’t enough land to do it legally,” she said.

Mr Lowe said the major work, the extension to the big hall, was to the rear of the building.

“From the front view it will not change at all other than different doors and an awning,” he said. “The major work at the back will be hidden from view and uses the materials needed to retain our heritage village listing.”

Ms Halasz said the steering committee had done a great job over four years, meeting weekly via Zoom due to COVID and the distance between where the members live.

“We also have a terrific project manager, Stephanie Chui, from SHASA, who did the first architectural drawings.”

Ms Halasz said the support from SHASA has been “unbelievable” and called out CTSOAT member Chris “Smiley” Magill for bringing the two groups together.