Arts Council spokesperson Krissa Wilkinson said the funding will allow significant improvements to be made to the much-loved Wauchope Community Arts Hall. Plans include a large pergola and roof which will provide cover to the entry ramp, plus an outdoor seating area and mosaic wall.

"The criteria for the grants program describes place making as the act of creating places that are inviting, bursting with activity and allow people to connect with each other, and our Arts Hall is certainly all that and more," Krissa said.

The group has been allocated $10,000 as part of the Council's Place Making Program, which funds projects that create vibrant public places valued by their communities.

"We have been involved in creative place making through our regular performances and community events for more than eighteen years now, albeit with limited space and resources."

"This latest project will animate and rejuvenate the Arts Hall and streetscape, improve safety and provide a space for arts hall patrons to gather, to celebrate and be inspired."

A broad cross-section of the Wauchope community are set to support the project and construction staff and students from Wauchope TAFE will build The Meeting Place.

"The local community already has a wonderful sense of ownership to the place, which this project will add to and strengthen," Krissa said. "It is also significant that Wauchope TAFE will be working with us on this grassroots initiative. Each of our organisations have spent decades building social capital and community development".

Construction of The Meeting Place will begin in April and events will resume in May with a touring theatre production of Bijou by acclaimed actor Chrissie Shaw, set in a Parisian cafe/bar in the 1930s, and audiences will be invited to make the show an occasion by dressing in 1930s clothing.