Visitor Information Centre Redevelopment
Project Update: 29 August
Benalla Rural City Council is ready to share some big news about the Benalla Visitor Centre and Cinema Relocation project.
New Visitor Services home opening
On Thursday 14 September the new permanent home for Enjoy Benalla’s Visitor Services and the new Benalla Cinema will be opening at 14 Mair Street, Benalla.
This major Benalla Rural City Council project has now been competed, with the Visitor Services and Cinema teams now preparing to move in. Once open to the public, this new community space will be a destination in itself, helping visitors and residents feel more connected to the history and culture of Benalla.
Temporary closure of Visitor Services
Please note the current Benalla Visitor Information Centre at the Commercial Hotel will be closing its doors for the final time at 4pm on Wednesday 30 August. During this time, you can still access visitor information at Council's Customer Service Centre at 1 Bridge Street East, or call 03 5760 2600. We're sorry for any inconvenience this might cause.
Farewell to the BPACC Cinema
We invite you to join us for the last movie at the BPACC Cinema. The last screening at the at the Samaria Road BPACC Cinema will be Barbie this Sunday at 4pm. After this, the old cinema will be closed, and the new Benalla Cinema will open in the middle of town on Thursday 14 September 14.
More information about the project...
The Benalla Visitor Information Centre at 14 Mair Street, Benalla includes visitor servicing, being the provision of regional dispersal information and retail sales for visitors and residents, the Costume and Kelly Museum and work rooms for the Benalla Historical Society.
The venue attracts between 12,000 and 15,000 people per year, of which between 3,000 and 4,000 visit the Costume and Kelly Museum.
The project will improve display space, enhance visitor engagement and enrich the Benalla Cinema experience. The project will also provide Benalla Rural City with a thriving, contemporary visitor servicing space, destination Museum and a new and modern cafe.
The Visitor Information Centre is a major dispersal point for visitors to Benalla Rural City. It plays an important role in ensuring visitors stay longer and see more in our region, thus contributing in a direct and positive way to the visitor economy.
The Visitor Information Centre occupies a premium space on the foreshore of Lake Benalla well within walking distance of the central business district and retail precinct.
The visitor servicing function is accessed by both visitors and permanent residents for region-wide visitor and general information.
At its meeting on 23 June 2021 the Council considered a report which presented details of a project, ‘Visitors, Cinema and History for Benalla’, to co-locate the existing Benalla Cinema within an expanded Visitor Information Centre and Costume and Kelly Museum building. At the meeting the Council resolved: “That the Visitors, Cinema and History for Benalla project be approved”.