It will be the start up. As with any start up in a big project, much of it will not be very exciting. Stage one includes; additional shower and toilet facilities (and improved sewerage capacity), improved road accessibility and increased parking and better meeting spaces. While the meeting spaces will be designed for use by Emergency Services if the Centre is called into action as an Emergency Evacuation Centre, they will also be able to be used by the community for many purposes. How will this effect what happens at the Centre? As with any building site, we won’t be able to use the Centre while there are works being carried out. This means that there will be no new bookings taken for the Civic Centre. Any events or activities that are currently booked will be able to go ahead until December. After December, the Centre will become an active building site and will not be accessible to the public. The project team is currently contacting all regular users of the Centre to talk about how and when they use the Centre. If you have an event or activity booked, and would like clarification on whether it can still go ahead, please call the Depot Administration Officer on (03) 6250 9200. We know that there are a lot of organisations that have stored items at the Centre, and people who may have questions. We are going to try and contact users who have items stored at the Centre, if we haven’t contacted you yet, or if you have any general questions, please call Council’s Infrastructure Manager on (03) 6250 9200. What will happen with the Feast and the Art and Craft Exhibition? The Council is talking to the organisers of both of these important community events to see what will happen. We’ll let you know as soon as possible. What happens if there’s an Emergency Evacuation called while the Centre is out of action? We are looking at alternative Emergency Evacuation locations, and as soon as they are finalised, we will publicise it on our website, social media and in the Gazette. What about the Cricket Club, I’ve heard they need to move? Council Officers have been talking with the Cricket Club and has completed some minor works on the current Clubrooms so that the Cricket Club can stay until there is provision for the club to relocate to the upgraded Civic Centre. This is the first I’ve heard about this, how will I know what’s happening? Until now, all the progress on this project has been in the planning, design and permits. Every month from now on, we’ll put an update in the Gazette for you, and we’ll also put that information on our website and social media pages. A hard copy will also be available at the Council if you’d like one. Sometimes there might not be much to tell you, but we’ll let you know that too. As funding becomes available in the future, we’ll do more work on the Centre, including landscaping, relocation of the kitchen facilities to provide a connection between the kitchen and the outside so people can enjoy outdoor events and a kiosk. The plans also include a glass extension and new entrance where community memorabilia can be displayed and more meeting spaces for community groups and other services.