Dalby Cultural Centre Development

We're bringing to life our community's vision for a new library, art gallery, multipurpose cinema and visitor information centre in Dalby.

The tender for the highly anticipated new Dalby Cultural Centre has been released, marking a major milestone in the revitalisation of the Thomas Jack Park Precinct.

The new cultural centre has been designed to complement an amazing new adventure playground, interactive water play area, and lots of new places to gather as part of a revitalised Thomas Jack Park Precinct parkland experience.

Keeping in mind community feedback around respecting green space and minimising impact on the parkland, Council has committed a maximum development footprint of 2500m² for the park's new cultural facilities.

We'll also be adding around 1500m² of new greenspace through the relocation of our parks and recreation depot further reducing the cultural centre building footprint to around 6.6 per cent of the park.

The design for the cultural centre been shaped by the vision of our incredible community, who envisioned a unique cultural experience that celebrates Dalby as an iconic gateway to the Western Downs, seamlessly embedded in the natural beauty of the park.

Council is calling for a suitably qualified head contractor to lead and share in the community's vision for the Thomas Jack Park Precinct. The tender package can be accessed here. Tenders should be submitted before 30 January 2026.

This project is proudly funded by the Queensland Government and Western Downs Regional Council.

Aerial View

Artistic impression showing the Cultural Centre from Condamine Street: a building of scale and creative form, setback from the road and surrounded by trees, creating a sense of arrival whilst embedded in nature, complementing the surrounding natural beauty. The Shed (long structure on the park side) as the main organising element of the design provides the primary gathering space for community events with entry to the DCC and connection to TJP.

Entering the Cinema Space

Artistic impression showing the cinema space in 'open' mode. You can see the tiered seating to the right, flexible outdoor performing space to the left and a second level above the visitor information centre with multimedia room and balcony.

Want to explore further? Discover more about the Thomas Jack Park precinct project:

Thomas Jack Park Precinct

Community Engagement and Concept Design

Timeline item 1 - complete

Loss of MyALL 107

In 2022, Dalby suffered the sad loss of the MyALL 107 Cultural Centre due to structural damage, ultimately requiring the building to be demolished.
Timeline item 2 - complete

Initial Cultural Centre Engagement

Over the course of 2022 and 2023, two rounds of engagement both online and in person gathered community insights on the needs and aspirations for the future Cultural Centre. Engagement includes appointment of a Community Advisory Panel.
Timeline item 3 - complete

Council resolution on site location

Sept 2023: Based on the community engagement insights and CAP site scoring results as well as best practice design principles, site constraints and project budget, Council put forward a resolution to proceed with planning for the Cultural Centre in the Thomas Jack Park Precinct.
Timeline item 4 - complete

Council review of site choice

April and May 2024: The election of a new Council provided an opportunity to review the site options for the Cultural Centre and bring community on the journey. Over 1000 people contributed to sharing ideas on the expected uses, spaces and cultural aspirations of the new Cultural Centre.
Timeline item 5 - complete

Council resolution with protective measures

June 2024: Council pass a new resolution to approve Thomas Jack Park as the preferred location for the Cultural Centre. The resolution states that this will include a new library, art gallery, visitor information centre and cinema. The Performing Arts Centre (PAC) is removed from planning for Thomas Jack Park to address community concerns over building footprints.
Timeline item 6 - complete

Advisory Panels

May 2024: Council appoint a panel of youth and community representatives to work with the design team to represent the diverse perspectives of our community. Over the next 6 months, the group meet on multiple occasions with the architect team.
Timeline item 7 - complete

Architects appointed

June 2024: The world-class design team is appointed for the project. The team is led by OMA alongside Anna O'Gorman, People Oriented Design and Blaklash.
Timeline item 8 - complete

Thomas Jack Park Precinct Engagement

July 2024: Council asked community to share their vision for the future park precinct and Cultural Centre facilities and record their memories and stories of the park and wider Dalby. Via a Family Fun Day, pop ups, online activities, workshops, and stakeholder meetings, 1,000’s of people participated.
Timeline item 9 - complete

Community-informed draft concept design

October 2024: Council released a draft concept design for the Thomas Jack Park Precinct. Community was invited to share their feedback via pop ups, an online survey and small group sessions.
Timeline item 10 - complete

Planning process

Now that the final plans have been endorsed by Council, a development approval under the Planning Scheme will be required.
Timeline item 11 - active

Detailed Design Phase

Now that the concept design has been approved, the architect team is progressing the detailed design. This will include construction details, methods, materials and aesthetic detail.