The Logan Entertainment Centre has remained a staple of the community for two decades and is turning 21 on Saturday 22 July.
But the venue has hosted more than just entertainment – it has served as a vaccination centre, a community hub and even as council chambers.
“The venue hosts several hundred events a year from small meetings, senior’s matinee concerts, comedy, musical theatre, children’s shows, conferences, dance, cultural and civic events,” a spokesperson for the centre said.
Its most recent hits include the Wiggles, whose three sold-out shows sold more than 3000 tickets.
Since 2002, Logan Entertainment Centre has hosted the likes of James Reyne, Guy Sebastian, Killing Heidi, Human Nature and The Living End, Casey Chambers and John Williamson.
It has also been a rock during hard times, with more than 171,000 vaccinations occurring at the centre during its term as a Covid clinic in 2021.
Prior to that, after the 2020 Logan City Council was appointed, the centre acted as a temporary council chambers.
“The new councillors actually worked from the centre,” the spokesperson said.
“Because of social distancing, they couldn’t work up in the chamber.
“It was probably the strangest time for a councillor to join.”
Logan Entertainment Centre was built in 2002 by Sommer and Staff Constructions, with designs by Cox Rayner Architects.
The premier at the time, Peter Beatie, along with then-mayor John Freeman, officially opened the venue on the 26 July 2002.
Since then, it has hosted citizenship ceremonies, sports awards, Mayor’s Christmas Breakfasts, volunteers’ breakfasts, and the Mayor’s Gala Ball until 2013.
One of its oldest events is the Silver Series, previously known as Morning Melodies – a daytime concert program for seniors.
“That’s actually been running since the building opened,” the spokesperson said.
She said the centre has had many huge events and some great times in its 21-year history.
“But we’ve also had the down times,” she said.
“The venue was really impacted by the GFC – the whole events industry was, and that was a time of change for us.”
She said the same impacts were felt during Covid when they became a clinic for more than a year.
“We’ve been lots of things to the community,” she said.
“The venue is multipurpose, so we can do theatre-style seating, we can trade shows, and we can also do banquets for up to 500 to 550 people.
“We are everything for the community.”
In 2020, Logan Entertainment Centre was internally refurbished, with new tiered theatre seating, furniture, art and lighting.
To celebrate its birthday, the centre is hosting several events for the community, including two performances of ‘Are We There Yet?’ for children and a live performance featuring the Sister Act soundtrack by The Little Red Company.
