A New Home for BNT

01 April 2023

Given the date of publication, we must begin by confirming that this is NOT an April Fool's Day joke.

The BNT board has moved a motion to take up accommodation at Barkly Square from April to trial having a space to rehearse, meet and operate from.

Barkly Square used to be the Ballarat Secondary College Barkly Campus, located at 25 Barkly St, Ballarat East VIC 3350. The lease will commence at the start of April and the board will spend the months afterward until August, assessing if it is financially viable for us to continue utilising the venue in an ongoing capacity. We will organise a home warming of some kind for our current members once we get settled in the facility.

While it is not a theatre and not a venue for the storage of large items, it will give us space to craft props and store many items of that nature, as well as conduct workshops, rehearsals, meetings, and similar events. The board is also considering the option of members being able to hire out the space in the future, once we find our feet in the venue.

The space that we will be taking up residence in is an old classroom and one of many utilised on the site. Other tenants of the facility include The Ballarat Times, Voice FM, Ballarat East Neighbourhood House, Ballarat Men's Shed, Ballarat Regional Multicultural Council, YMCA, and more. Barkly Square hosts quarterly seasonal markets which are contributed to by all the tenants. The facility includes a cafe that was previously run by A Pot of Courage but will soon be run by 1816 Bakehouse. In the centre of the facility is a courtyard garden that is overlooked on all sides by windows from classrooms and corridors.

The venue is accessible via a ramp at the front door and ground-level entry at the side. There is ample parking out the front and a large car park at the rear.

Our room is on the upper floor which can be accessed by stairs and elevator.

We won't be set up for casual drop-ins at the site as we will be using it on an as-needed basis, but current BNT members can get in touch with the board with any inquiries.