Community venue gains major screen, conferencing technology and upgraded facilities for local events
By Daniel Honan
Dorrigo Community Hall is set for a major boost with new audio-visual technology, including an automatically retractable 4.2-metre by 2.5-metre rear-projection screen, positioning the venue to host larger conferences and events.
The upgrade, which also includes a second display screen and a conferencing bar, was funded entirely by a private local donor after the Hall Committee began fielding inquiries it could not accommodate.
“We started getting calls from organisations wanting a nice place for a two-day convention,” Dorrigo Community Hall Committee member Christine Moore said. “They can do that up and down the coast, but those venues are expensive, and they’re set up for a thousand-plus people. We wanted to have a facility here in Dorrigo.”
“The best we’ve been able to offer them in the past was a whiteboard and three coloured pens,” Ms Moore said. “That doesn’t really cut it in today’s world.”
Toastmasters is among the groups already interested in using the upgraded venue.
“Toastmasters has already indicated it would like to base its country conferences in Dorrigo once the system is running,” Ms Moore said. “They’ll be able to come in, do their presentation and live stream it — we’ve got Wi-Fi in the hall now, and we’re upgrading that too once the audiovisual work is done.”
Bookings are already underway for the new system, which the Committee says makes the hall the only local venue able to accommodate up to 200 people.
Located in the centre of Hickory Street, the hall’s sound system was upgraded under a grant almost two years ago, when the venue was fitted out as a community refuge centre for emergencies. It has also gained air conditioning, a semi-commercial kitchen, hearing loop, accessible bathrooms, a conference room and a commercial dishwasher through recent council-funded upgrades, and was used as a weather relief venue during this year’s Anzac Day commemoration.
The hall regularly hosts indoor bowls, Zumba, yoga and ballroom dancing, along with art exhibitions and conferences, and is also booked for weddings, memorials, school formals and speech days.
“Dorrigo already has the accommodation and the food outlets – cafes, pubs, that sort of thing,” Ms Moore said. “It’s all set up to benefit from these extra groups coming through town.”
The Committee’s next project is a solar power system for the hall’s roof.
Bookings can be made by emailing: admin@dorrigocommunityhall.org.