Seventeen years after NSW’s only pride centre closed its doors, a new hub for the LGBTQI+ community has finally opened up: the Inner West Pride Centre.
Bang in the middle of one of Sydney’s most diverse, eclectic, and queer suburbs, is the historic Newtown Town Hall building. Built in the early 1860s, it first served as the Newtown School of Arts before being purchased by local council in 1868 and becoming the municipal offices up until 1948.

From then on it had a steady turnover of tenants and a variety of purposes, mostly community based.
Meanwhile, the Sydney Pride Centre, which was established in 1995, operated Erskineville Town Hall as shared venue for LGBTQI+ organisations and events. When it closed in 2007, Sydney — and NSW — were left with a gaping hole where a thriving community hub had been. It wasn’t until 2018 that any suggestion was made about opening a new pride centre.
The impetus came from Inner West Council, who consulted with local and the LGBTQI+ communities. With a very high positive response providing the mandate, the council set about finding a suitable location; Newtown Town Hall perfectly fit all the criteria.
The interior was given a $2.6 million make-over, with contractors, CCG Architects bringing the beautiful heritage building back to its former glory.

The Inner West Pride Centre opened its stunningly restored front doors on September 9 this year. Following an Expression of Interest process, much respected organisation, Twenty 10 was selected to manage and operate the Pride Centre.
Twenty10’s vision for the Centre is a safe, accessible hub for connection, care, creativity, and collaboration for LGBTQI+ communities. In addition to running their own core programs, Twenty10 will bring the Pride Centre to life through partnerships with other grassroots LGBTQI+ organisations, groups and communities.
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