Festival of Small Halls – March 16 2019

The Beltana Progress Association, in conjunction with the Woodfordia Foundation, is excited to announce that we will be holding an evening of frivolity as part of the Festival of Small Halls on 16 March 2019.

The event centres around our Assembly Hall which has recently undergone major renovations by our committed community members and is this year celebrating its 140th birthday!!

Festivities start at 5:00pm with a barbecue dinner which will be available until 6:30pm when the hall will close briefly to allow the fantastic artists to bump in. 

The evening's entertainment will begin with local artist, John O'Dea who will be followed by Australian act, John Flanagan and then The Once, from Canada. John O'Dea will do an encore performance to round out the night for those who wish to keep the party going.

Bar and supper will be available throughout the event. Please note, our licence does not allow for BYO and any money raised from this event will go towards the continued works of the Progress Association, including further upgrades to the Hall.

Ticket prices are a very reasonable $20 and can be pre-purchased from https://festivalofsmallhalls.com/tours/autumn-2019/ which will help us greatly with planning for catering.

Major Hall Restoration

The Beltana Town hall is a landmark historic building which has been in use from 1879. Over that time many improvements have been made and of course the climate and passing of years have had their effects so it was beginning to show its age. As the community uses it regularly for meetings, town gatherings and events it was agreed that some significant works should be carried out to ensure its continued longevity and modernise and improve the facility for ongoing use. The first stage of this process was an undertaking to upgrade the kitchen to modern, commercial standards.

The finalisation of the kitchen was a moment of great achievement and we were all very happy with the result and felt encouraged to continue with works on the main part of the hall.           

The main tasks for the continuing renovation were:

  • To reinstate the windows at the front (above the double doors) and rear (in the store room)

  • To replace all the exterior doors

  • To install a cement ramp for disabled access and a landing for the emergency exit

  • To repair any damage to the structure

  • To remove the acoustic tiles in the main part of the hall - revealing the original ceiling profile 

  • To reinstate the original ceiling profile with new materials, including insulation

  • To install commercial grade lino on the store room floor

  • To upgrade the electrical wiring to modern standards and replace fixtures like lighting and install exit signage and ceiling fans

  • To reinstate the 'gas' lantern over the main entrance

  • To paint the interior

  • To paint the exterior woodwork

  • To install flag poles 

There was a lot to do! The community was able to source funding for this project from a number or sources (The Stronger Communities Program, Grants SA, Outback Communities Authority, Veteran's Affairs and the Beltana Progress Association) which allowed us to carry out all of the tasks listed above. With concerted effort from contractors and over 700 hours of volunteer work by the community, progress was consistent and works were completed in October 2018, celebrated by a small community gathering. The greatly improved Hall is available to hire for your events and keep your eyes open for the announcement of our offical opening celebration to be held in the year of the 140th Anniversary of the Beltana Town Hall in 2019.

2018 ANZAC Day Service

At dawn on ANZAC Day 2018 Beltana held it's inaugral Service at the Community Picnic Grounds, followed by a gathering in the hall, where breakfast and lunch were served, music and games played and trees planted. The day went well with around 70 people attending the service and breakfast and many staying on for the activities and lunch. We were lucky to have our local veterans and some of their fellow service men attend and we hope to see them again next year. 

Waste Collection

Beltana Progress Association, in partnership with Flinders Management Services has instigated a waste management programme for Beltana. This includes fortnightly rubbish collection within the town and the service began in July 2017. 

For further information on this service, including the ability to sign up, please contact the Progress Association. 

Hall Kitchen Renovation Begins

In early July 2017, members of the Beltana Progress Association gathered to begin the renovations of the Hall kitchen. 

The first day saw the removal of the external door and the internal cladding of the back wall while other members put together all the new fittings. 

Following days saw the back wall reconstructed and then the whole room was repainted.  The next stage will be installing the new flooring and fittings resulting in a new commercial standard kitchen for our town hall.

Beltana Community Picnic Grounds

In mid 2016 Beltana Progress Association, in partnership with the Outback Communities Authority, secured funds from two grants for the development of a Community Picnic Grounds. The historic Water Reserve in the middle of town was chosen as the location for this project and work commenced in late 2016. 

So far, a total of 50 locally native trees have been planted which will provide shade and dust management in coming years as well as making it visually more appealing.

Many groups and individuals helped achieve this fantastic outcome for the community and the Progress Association would like to especially thank all of the community members who spent so much time and effort on various work days, the OCA, for auspicing and aquitting the grants to make the project possible and all the contractors who provided professional services.