City to decide as major cultural expansion flagged

Council is calling on the community to choose between a $102.5 million cultural, business conferencing and entertainment venue and a $55.6 million expansion to the Civic Theatre.

On Wednesday, Wagga City Council launched its cultural precinct engagement survey to gauge public opinion before taking the next step.

As Wagga's population approaches 100,000 target in the coming decades, council hopes the winning project will increase entertainment, conferencing and cultural opportunities across the city.

The two potential projects would provide increased access to arts, entertainment, conference, and cultural experiences while creating jobs and providing significant economic benefits to the community.

If successful, the new convention centre would be located adjacent to the current Tourist Information Centre.

"It will accommodate 5,000 people in a concert and 1200 people for a seated event," council general manager Peter Thompson said.

Mr Thompson said the centre could host a range of events ranging from a truck launch, to agricultural product launches and sit-down large scale conferences.

Building such a major project in Central Wagga will require many more parking spaces, with the current design featuring an elevated centre and a ground floor car park to help address this.

In addition to the centre, the business case for that project would also see the development of a First Nations place keeping facility and cultural centre that would aim to tell the stories of Aboriginal people through exhibitions, education and public engagement.

An expansion to the Civic Theatre precinct on the other hand would see two more smaller theatres added to that venue on the shores of the Wollundry Lagoon.

"[That plan would see us] add a 300 seat theatre and another 150 seat theatre [to the venue]," Mr Thompson said.

Uncle James Ingram welcomed the announcement of a place keeping facility which he believes is "long overdue" and hopes it will help tell the story of the Wiradjuri people.

The engagement process now underway aims to determine which project is most important to the community and Wagga mayor Dallas Tout said it is an important decision for the city's future.

"We've listened to past engagement and now we need our community's help to determine what cultural infrastructure will meet the future needs and potential for our city," Cr Tout said.

The mayor said it is really important that the community is involved in this process as it will provide council with a strong basis on which to negotiate state and federal funding to complete the final project.

Cr Tout said both projects are "relevant" as the city's population grows.

"It is forecast to reach 80,000 in the next 20 years," he said.

"As one of the leading regional centres in the state, Wagga needs facilities which provide both lifestyle and economic benefits for the community at a regional scale."

Over the next 28 days, council staff will head out to various locations across the city to chat with members of the public face-to-face.

"Keep an eye on our socials to find out where and when our 'pop-up' information stall and drop-ins will be in your area," Mr Thompson said.

Read more about the two proposals, see some artists' impressions, and complete the survey at www.haveyoursay.wagga.nsw.gov.au