Council carried a motion at the May 2011 Ordinary Meeting of Council to refer the McDonald Centre to Council's 'Asset Review' process.

This process includes community consultation with stakeholders and the general public. As part of this process the report will look at the initial consultation with stakeholders, the essential services report and potential costs to bring the hall building to usable condition, and options for future use of the building.

The Centre was designed by Herbert Coburn, a Ballarat architect, Councillor and Mayor of Ballarat who also designed the Ballarat Civic Centre in Mair Street. It was built by contractor C J Stewart in 1956.

The property and building was gifted to the Ararat community by Alexander McDonald who was several time Shire President and a member of the Legislative Council for Ararat and Stawell.

A committee of management made up of the Shire of Ararat and City of Ararat representatives oversaw the operation of the complex until council amalgamations, which saw Ararat Rural City become solely responsible.

These days the Department of Sustainability and Environment remains the nominal land owner, with ARCC the Committee of Management. The Building is also covered by a Heritage Overlay in the Ararat Planning Scheme, which means that demolition, or any works or development that alters the exterior of the building would require a Planning Permit.

The eastern most building of the complex has been used by Grampians Community Health as offices, however the hall building has not been in active use for several years. An essential services report was undertaken for the hall in 2009 that outlined a number of issues that were identified as being required to bring the hall up to appropriate access and safety standards.

In 2009 an Essential Services report was undertaken internally by Council's municipal building surveyor and building inspector. The inspection identified a number of actions to bring the building into compliance. Many of the requirements could be addressed in maintenance, for example replacing door furniture and altering fire extinguisher placement, however, many of the other requirements would require more substantial funding.

A number of options have been put forward as to the future use of the building, including refurbishing the McDonald Centre Hall, to be used as a hall facility by a range of community groups and individuals, updating the Community Spaces Feasibility Study by working in partnership with Grampians Community Health with a view to redeveloping the facility as a Community Health Centre, or closing the building permanently in light of the fact that it has not been actively used as a hall for several years and Council may be best served by permanently closing the hall and only undertaking minimum maintenance to keep the hall in a safe condition.

Cr Ian Wilson said the report was a wake up call for the community.

"We have a whole range of ageing infrastructure across the municipality," he said.

Cr Wilson said council had introduced the Asset Review Policy and through it had undertaken a review of the McDonald Centre.

"It's now out in the market place and we want the community to give us their feedback on their use of the facility in the future," he said.

"We need to make a decision long term to make it a usable asset into the future, and this is the start of that process."

Council officers will continue the assets review process including further consultation with community groups and stakeholders and bring a further report to Council for a final decision.