Peterborough Residents Group chairman Ron Irvine said the announcement was a “momentous day for Peterborough”, which has been without a hall since the late 1950s when the old building was demolished.

Member for Polwarth Terry Mulder, representing Deputy Premier Peter Ryan, announced the grant, saying towns “that lack a hall lack soul” and the project would remedy that.

The Peterborough Residents Group said the hall would be used not only as a community meeting place but also as an arts centre and historical museum.

School holiday activities, theatre performances, gallery-style exhibitions, fitness classes and indoor sporting activities were also expected to be among its other uses.

The $500,000 announced yesterday comes on top of a further $136,000 allocated to the project from the state government’s Local Government Infrastructure Fund to Moyne Shire, which itself promised a further $144,000.

Mr Irvine said the residents’ group hoped to raise about another $110,000, lifting the overall cost of the hall to about $900,000.

He said the community had been lobbying for a hall since about 2010 when a local bid for an arts centre was unsuccessful. 

“There’s been no real community meeting place apart from the Peterborough Golf Club,” Mr Irvine said.

He said the group was very pleased with plans for the hall, unveiled at yesterday’s announcement. They include a stage and dressing room, two activities rooms, kitchen and toilets with disabled access.

It will be built adjacent in the Peterborough CFA centre in Macks Street.

Moyne Shire deputy mayor Colin Ryan said the hall would be built because Peterborough residents came together two years ago “to make it happen”.

It is expected to be completed by the end of 2016.