Hundreds of people packed the pews of the main chapel of Ballarat’s Neill Street Uniting church for its final service in February 2023. But some in the congregation, which had been meeting on the site since it began as a Methodist church in 1861, could already see its next life.
Jill Loveland, whose family’s involvement with the church dates back to the late 1800s, says her father, Winston Loveland – who was an active member of the church for 96 years – always said the space should be used for performing arts.
