![Building an art gallery at Cannon Hill is not a new concept with the idea first mooted for the city in the 1970s. Building an art gallery at Cannon Hill is not a new concept with the idea first mooted for the city in the 1970s.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/nB9BrLNgExsfwsLgDBevWP/a989ca62-959f-4d7a-8dd8-7f03f4b4251f.jpg/r0_0_4000_3000_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
In a case of history repeating itself, it seems building an art gallery at Cannon Hill is not a new concept with the idea first mooted for the city in the 1970s.
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The proposed move could have seen an art gallery incorporated into a 1000-seat performing arts centre on the prominent site.
But the idea didn't take off after the mayor of the day used his casting vote which saw the town hall renovated and expand into what is now known as the Lighthouse Theatre rather than move to a new facility.
The current Warrnambool City Council is investigating the possibility of building a new art gallery on the top of Cannon Hill with a business case into the site under way.
The 4-3 vote of council to do a $100,000-plus business case on the Cannon Hill site caused backlash from the community with multiple petitions attracting thousands of signatures and a 'Hands off Cannon Hill' bumper sticker campaign. A petition in support of the idea attracted 500 signatures.
According to the book detailing Warrnambool's history, By These We Flourish, the authors wrote in the late 1970s the search for a site for new art complex considered 20 sites including Caramut Road, Sherwood Park and Cannon Hill.
But the suggestion of Cannon Hill, the book says, was opposed by a vocal councillor, as well as then Member for Warrnambool Ian Smith and a "considerable body of public opinion" including a petition signed by 500 people.
Mr Smith, now 83, said he no longer recalled much of the debate but as a local member would have been lobbying for it not to be on Cannon Hill. "It's quite an iconic site... you wouldn't want to pollute it much further," he said.
"You don't want to have sprawling asphalt all over the place to provide car parking."
Former town clerk Vern Robson said one of the suggestions was to build a 1000-seat performing arts centre on the top of Cannon Hill which incorporated an art gallery and underground car park. "That was all part of the debate at the time," he said.
The need for a conference facility, upgraded performance space and bigger art gallery were all on the agenda. At the time the gallery was outgrowing the former bank building on the corner of Kepler and Timor streets.
And the town hall was in dire need of an upgrade with performers having to change in tents erected at the side of the venue and there were no proper toilet facilities. "It was really a disgrace. You couldn't describe it any other way," Mr Robson said.
When, in about 1977, the town hall was declared unsafe, councillors' focus turned to preserving the old town hall's ornate ceiling which was more than 100 years old. "A lot of people loved the old town hall and they loved the old ceiling," Mr Robson said.
The mayor's casting vote sealed the future of a new performing arts centre on the current site and saved the ornate ceiling. "It was a very controversial debate," Mr Robson said.
But the biggest focus for ratepayers groups was the cost of having a new facility at Cannon Hill which would have been double what a renovation and extension of the town hall would be.
Mr Robson said the irony was when the builders started work they found the ceiling couldn't be saved. More money had to be spent removing it and replacing it with a look-a-like ceiling.
Mr Robson said it was a council policy decision not to locate a new performing arts centre at Cannon Hill, and he didn't recall there was too much of an outcry about the site. But he said plans for Cannon Hill never progressed beyond a proposal.
Once the town hall was incorporated into the new performing arts centre - something that celebrated its 40th anniversary this year - the council's focus turned to the future of the art gallery.
The council purchased the consulting rooms of Dr Hemingway on the site of the current art gallery - and part of the heritage medical building was incorporated into the design.
Mr Robson said the architect created controversy when he wanted to encroach another two metres into the Civic Green to make a larger art gallery. "That created public uproar," he said. But the council was unanimous in not allowing any of the green to be used for a bigger gallery. The council purchased the Regal ice cream factory site next door for the gallery car park.
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