We went behind the scenes at Launceston's Albert Hall to find out why the extra $3.9 million in works are necessary. Video by Joe Colbrook
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00:00I see a lot of love and investment back into the Albert Hall to make sure its original
00:05elements shine.
00:06You might have heard the Council's planning to spend an extra $4 million on upgrades to
00:11the Albert Hall.
00:12We went behind the scenes to find out what the money will be spent on and why it's necessary.
00:17What we're talking about here is the original part of the Albert Hall, the integral part
00:20of Launceston's history.
00:22This goes right back to 1890 or thereabouts when it was first constructed and when it
00:29was constructed was certainly one of the largest, in fact the largest of its kind within
00:33the British Empire.
00:34So it's got a significant part of history not just here for Launceston but amongst the
00:38British Empire as a whole.
00:40But what was not included in the original scope of works was this part, the original
00:45part of the Albert Hall.
00:47And it's important that when we open this hall and when we actually put it to community
00:51use, we've got to make sure that it's fully functioning and able to do the things that
00:54we want it and need it to be able to do.
00:56So whilst the extension component has been coming along very well and will be completed
01:01this year, what we also recognised is that we need to make sure that this part of the
01:06Albert Hall also gets its own degree of investment to make sure it can do what it needs to do.
01:13Essentially, after standing there for about 120 years, the main hall is in a bit rough
01:20condition and needs a bit of tender loving care and also things like disability compliance
01:25and catering upgrades.
01:26Whilst it looks like a gaping big hole in some brickwork, but essentially what this
01:31is is an access point which goes through to the new lifts that are being constructed as
01:34part of the Albert Hall redevelopment.
01:36And this part here that we're standing on is the actual stage as well.
01:39So pre this work taking place, anyone with a disability access compliance issue, wheelchairs
01:44for example, that wanted to access the stage had some real challenges.
01:48So if we're going to use the facility for modern day society and we're going to keep
01:51using it to appeal to groups as we should and as we want to do, then these are the sorts
01:55of things that we need to start to do and retrofit some of our older and existing buildings
01:58to make sure they're catering to the needs of our user groups.
02:02One of the great things we actually have about our budget, broadly, is I've been very fortunate
02:07enough I guess to inherit quite a healthy balance sheet.
02:10We do have a reasonable amount of money in the bank and so we're not proposing to go
02:15and do anything silly to fund this, we're not borrowing money to fund this per se.
02:19We do actually have enough capital reserves to be able to fund these things.
02:22And in essence, these are the things we should have been doing historically and these are
02:26the things we need to be doing, and not just at the Albert Hall but across all of our buildings.
02:30It should be at Town Hall, it should be at our sporting clubs that we are and at least
02:33at the community groups.