Maitland City Council meetings return to Town Hall after $10m refurbishment

Initially vacated due to social distancing rules, meetings then continued to be held at Maitland Senior Citizens Centre while the chamber underwent refurbishment.

This was part of construction on the Maitland Administration Centre and Town Hall refurbishment, which began in April 2021.

The refurbished chamber now has air conditioning and heating, blinds, a hearing loop, audio visual system including voting, cameras and monitors, new furnishings and a controllable lighting system.

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At the Tuesday, April 11 council meeting, Maitland mayor Philip Penfold welcomed everyone back to the building.

"It's been a long time since we've been in this chamber and it's great to have everyone back, for some people it's the first time they've ever been in this council chamber so can I congratulate council staff, the architect and the builder on getting us to this point," he said.

"Many of you will recall we commenced having council meetings elsewhere at the start of the pandemic for social distancing, probably a phrase we don't use much anymore, and then we had the renovations to this place, a $10 million investment to the entirety of the Town Hall that we'll see opened up in the coming weeks and mid-year I would expect.

"It's going to be great for the people of Maitland it's great to have these council meetings return to this place."

The chamber has 60 seats in total, made up of 31 public seats and 29 seats for councillors and staff.

It features five flags on display behind the mayor's seat, which are the NSW, Australian, Aboriginal, Torres Strait and Maitland City Council flags.

At the meeting, The Grainery Church pastor Vicki Cosgrove was invited to lead an invocation prayer.

"Thank you mayor and councillors, and congratulations this is amazing it looks great," she said.

"I know it's been a long time in the pipework and congratulations. It's been a cohesive thing too, I've spoken to staff who have been pulled in from different spaces, now sitting under one roof, what a lovely thing.

"So let me pray, let me bless this time as we bless this city."

Cr Penfold urged the councillors not to get distracted by the new technology or to play to the broader audience, saying "we're here to conduct the business of the council".

First opened on February 28, 1890, Maitland Town Hall's upgrades were estimated during the planning phase to cost $9.7 million.

This happened alongside construction of the new administration building, which was estimated to cost $30.5 million, and new parking and site improvements which were estimated to cost $5.3 million.

The total estimated cost for the project was $45.5 million.