July-August 2016 Oceania Edition

50 Business View Australia - July - August 2016 minimize costs, develop designs that could integrate the existing council chamber and the heritage-listed hall building and finally, to minimize energy and maintenance costs in the new facility. The project’s cost was estimated at $4.5 million which was somewhat controversial with the community. Once it was completed, however, the community’s response was overwhelmingly positive and it was viewed as a well-done project. “The community has started to see that there’s enormous opportunity to undertake community events and activities. As for the level of engagement with all layers of the community, before there was apathy or antipathy about the benefits of the centre but the more they’ve used it, the more they’ve embraced it for a number of reasons. They’ve started to realize it’s a significant community asset”, says Kingsley. A cultural and community centre After all, there are now countless community events being organized and taking place in the new civic centre. The digitized cinema has seen 230 screenings in the last 20 months alone while the facilitiesof thecentrearebeing used for a wide variety of purposes. There’s theater from local groups, a library which attract loads of visitors, and a specialized area that hosts weddings and funerals. Furthermore, the Visitor Information centre has been moved to the new facility as it is more easily accessible to the community. Overall, the Civic Centre attracts an