Hepburn Shire Council voted in confidence for a six-week option to purchase the building The Rex for an unnamed sum. After a consultation process with residents, councillors will consider the proposal to purchase the building. 

The new plan will see the Hepburn Hub located over two sites and will drastically reduce the changes made to the existing town hall, increase pool space and decrease costs, council says.

The much-maligned Hepburn Hub proposal ignited anger among residents when it was first mooted in 2014. Residents fought against the plans, which were altered many times, fearing planned office spaces would destroy the town hall and were not sympathetic to Daylesford’s late 1800s architecture.

Council chief executive Aaron van Egmond said The Rex plan minimised the changes to the town hall site because a planned glass office space, over a number of levels, would not go ahead. 

A glass laneway with exhibition space and break out area, downstairs visitor information centre, commercial kitchen and renovations existing areas would still be built at the Town Hall.

Mr van Egmond said housing the library in The Rex space would increase the library space by 180 square metres, increase off-season outdoor pool spaces from 650 square metres to 1000 square metres and alleviate parking concerns.

The new renovations would take between six and nine months to complete – compared to the proposed three-year town hall project,. It would also save council and ratepayers more than $190,000 per annum. Leasing the retail space is expected to bring significant revenue. 

Mr van Egmond said community concerns about The Rex owners closing toilets to the public had been the catalyst for the project.