The recent ownership transfer of the Bugwahl Historical Hall from Crown land to the  Bungwahl Progress Association has rekindled an old flame of passion among residents. 

The hall was built in 1914 by the blood, sweat and tears of the community, through fundraising and volunteer work. 

More than 100 years later, residents have come full circle, and are again banding together, this time to return the hall to its former glory.

Bungwahl Progress Association president Jared Riske is leading the charge.

“Council were working in good faith for a number of years, maintaining the hall,” he said.

“Since July the association has had ownership of the building, and now we are trying to get it back on its feet.

“I have a soft spot for the hall because I grew up here, and it was always used for school events and things like that. It’s always been a part of my life, and I want to continue that for the other kids in the area.”

Vice-president Scott  Pearse is a more recent addition to the cause, but is equally as invested in the project.

“There aren’t many old buildings in the area, so it’s worth looking after the ones we have,” Scott said.

“That’s why I love it, why I am involved, to preserve the history.”

As with most 100-year-old buildings, the hall needs a lot of maintenance work.

Council has agreed to a three year finance deal to help with power bills and repair costs, but after that it’s in the hands of the community.

“That’s three years to get it together and get the hall back on its feet,” Scott said.

“What we need now is some good old fashioned community support. We need people through the door, supporting the hall and using it for their activities and groups.”

The Bungwahl community only has a couple of hundred people, having lost a percentage of the population when a lot of the timber mills in the area shut down in the 90s. With the population drop, the hall fell out of use. Now Jared and Scott are determined to bring new life to the iconic building.

To get the revitalisation underway, the Progress Association is throwing a “we own the hall party,” on December 2.

“This will be a reintroduction of the hall back into the community,” Scott explained.

“Belle Badi is travelling from Newcastle to perform on the night, she grew up just around the corner, and is very excited to be involved. We also have local volunteers who are pulling together an Italian feast for the party.

“There will be dancing, surf films being played, and everyone can have a think about what they can use the hall for in the future.”

When the Bungwahl community banded together and built the hall more than 100 years ago, they did it because they needed a place to gather as a group. Today, Jared and Scott hope it will serve the same purpose.

“In these small communities it’s easy for different groups of people to become socially isolated,” Scott said.

“People usually think of the older generation in regard to social isolation, but I’ve found most of the younger people like me who move here and live here often work from home and don’t have many avenues to socialise.

“When you’re in that age group, and don’t have kids to provide a link to the school community, it can be quite hard to meet people and be social.

“One of the ideas I have for the hall is a “don’t work from home day,” where anyone who would usually work from home can get together in the hall and work from there.

“There’s a great view of the lake from the hall, and it would just be a good way for people to connect with others.”

More people are starting to holiday and relocate to area, and the Progress Association is hoping the hall will help to start creating a more vibrant and interactive community. 

“We are planning four parties in the first year to get the ball rolling, hopefully that will encourage people to hold their events here and get involved,” Scott said.

“Everyone who comes along and gets involved gets “hall fever,” and has all these great ideas and gets super enthusiastic about it which is great. We want people to hold meetings here, exercise classes, anything. 

“We’ve got to sit down and figure out what we can use the hall for in the long term. There’s a lot of energy to get this going, we just need support from the community.”

Tickets to the “we own the hall party” are on sale now, $20 for adults and $10 for chuldren, and can be purchased at www.bungwahlhall.com.