The Gunnedah Shire Band is now in a better position to attract revenue, with help from $30,000 in funding.
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The band hall is now sporting a new bar area for catering purposes, a carpeted stage, solar panels, landscaping, a footpath for disabled access and safety features including crashbars on exit doors.
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The deadline for all projects funded by the program was June 30 and the band managed to meet that with help from local contractors, suppliers, and volunteer work.
"The main reason [we applied] was to provide a more modern and attractive facilities for users of the hall and for people who hire it out, so it has certainly helped that big time," band master Laurence Rowe said.
Mr Rowe is now hopeful more people will hire the hall for functions, which enables the band to maintain it and travel to competitions.
The new bar was made by Mike Tighe who is part of the band community.
"The bar looks way better now," Mr Rowe said.
"What we had there was built in the 1970s ... It was cramped," he said.
"For the people working there as volunteers, [the bar area] is probably safer now as well."
The solar panels will also aid the band with its finances.
"The idea of that is that it will hopefully provide a saving to the hall users in the future," Mr Rowe said.
A lot of this stuff would never have been done. It would still be on the wishlist.
- Laurence Rowe, Gunnedah Shire Band
The carpeted stage is helpful for the band itself, improving the acoustics when they practice and perform.
Another new feature that has provided a "side benefit" is the new access path to the hall.
"It has also enabled water tower museum clients who have a disability to have easier access to that facility as well," Mr Rowe said.
Overall, the band master said the funding had made a real difference.
"A lot of this stuff would never have been done. It would still be on the wishlist ... It has allowed us to bring new things forward," he said.
"We had local builders and suppliers for the improvement so that helped them out too."
Mr Rowe is hopeful another opportunity may arise to apply for more funding down the track.
"The big item which we would hope would be possible in the future would be renovating the toilets, which are from the 1970s. They're old and tired," he said.
"For the membership as a band it's fine, but we're looking to attract people to the hall for functions, so it's probably the big one.
"We hope by the time the next one comes up, we can have something in place so we can apply for funding for the toilets."
