Lots of smaller towns in regional Australia have a single large hall or sometimes a woolshed that served as a meeting point for governance, dances, and festivals. These days, they aren't really used for governance, but they are definitely used for events! Gunning has a large shire hall on the outskirts of the town, which I guess is used for lots of events... but I know it primarily as a concert venue!
On the outside of the building, it looks a bit run down... and the setting near the edge of the town doesn't really add much more to that perception.
...but once you are on the inside, it is a different thing completely! There is a well equipped kitchen... which would definitely be useful if you were using the place for an event of some sort... but not so much use for a concert!
... and this "little" side room is a taster of the main room... nice timber floors and an acoustic that is wet and live!
And here is the main hall, with a small stage for theatre or presentations... We use the ground level for the ensemble, and the audience is also seated at the same level.
The acoustic is crazily live and wet... as you would expect from timber floors and hard ceilings and walls. There could be some benefit in perhaps deadening the sound a little bit with some absorption panels or curtains, and I gather that that is in progress... but for our concert, it wasn't quite set in place yet.
It has always been a pleasure to play in this hall, but I am going to be quite interested to revisit when it is redone with some acoustic fixes!