SALT Central Coast Issue 2 | Page 25

High Hopes for The Art House Demolition of the old Memorial Hall has begun in Wyong to make way for Wyong’s new contemporary arts facility – The Art House. It is the end of an era but heralds the beginning of a new and exciting chapter for the arts in the Shire. The Art House has been in the planning for eight years and will cost $12.7m to build. It will have a 500 seat theatre with a fully functional fly tower that can accommodate professional theatre productions and allow local amateur groups and artists a chance to really shine. It will also have a 130 seat studio space, a meeting room, foyer and exhibition area and front and back of house facilities. It will be built on the old Memorial Hall site in Wyong, which is the primary venue for performances by the Wyong Drama Group and the Wyong Musical Theatre Company.  While The Art House is under construction, the show will continue to go on for these groups, who will perform at the new community arts hub “The Grove” in Wyong. Wyong Shire Council recently signed a two year lease with the Department of Education to take over the former Wyong Grove Public School and is turning it into a performance, workshop and studio space for local groups. Minister for the Arts at Wyong Memorial Hall The project is fully funded by Wyong Shire Council with assistance from the local Wyong Drama Group and some program funding from Arts NSW. Recently the NSW Minister for the Arts, the Hon Troy Grant MP, visited the site and was shown the plans for The Art House. He was impressed with what he saw and Council is hopeful the State Government will commit to funding to help fitout The Art House in the near future. The Grove will be used by a wide range of community and cultural groups for events, studios and workshops space. The Grove hall will be the interim performing arts venue for local productions until The Art House opens in December 2015. Local community and cultural groups turned up in droves to the launch showing the high demand and interest in cultural facilities in the Shire. The stage is being set at The Grove for The Art House to really take off and it is just what our Shire needs. Official Art House Ambassador and Dancing With The Stars judge, Josh Horner, took time out from his Australian tour to be at the launch to promote the local arts scene and to encourage usage of The Grove. Become a Friend of The Art House and find out more about what’s happening at www.wyong.nsw.gov.au/arthouse 23