Facilities and features
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The Civic Place redevelopment will provide cutting edge facilities to the Willoughby community. Built on the existing Civic Centre site, the library and hall will be replaced with exceptional new facilities to better serve the people of Willoughby and surrounding areas.
Prior to its closure, the Civic Centre served 60,000 library users, local schools, local and regional art and craft organisations. The facilities also served as a venue for community and religious groups, in addition to corporate conferences and functions.
Although widely used, the Civic Centre facilities possessed inadequacies such as small off-stage waiting space for large groups of performers, limited foyer area and inadequate washroom facilities. Further to this, performers with a physical disability had great difficulty in accessing the stage area, and no provisions were made for hearing impaired patrons.
The new Civic Place will maximize the site’s potential as one of the region’s most significant public spaces, and will attract a substantial increase in patrons.
The new features and facilities will include:
- 5000 sqm library – three times larger than the old library
- 1000 seat concert hall
- 500 seat theatre
- 530 sqm Civic Hall for civic functions, exhibitions, education and corporate events
- Two rehearsal spaces
- Visual arts exhibition space
- Public artworks
- Refurbished Willoughby WurliTzer Organ installed in the concert hall
- 6000 sqm of open space including an amphitheatre
- 400 underground car parking spaces
- Accessible venues
- Use of alternate energy generation technology to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions
- Serviced apartments provided by the private sector