Stunning attendance numbers in weeks following Coffs Harbour’s Yarrila Place opening

The surging regional city of Coffs Harbour has found an $82m pick-me-up seemingly bigger than its annual NRL clash, as booming crowds reveal a hunger for cultural attractions.

School groups like those from Boambee Public are booking in thick and fast to experience the Yarrila Place art gallery and museum.

The numbers are in and they’re eye-watering, with thousands of people churning through the doors of Coffs Harbour’s new cultural space every week.

City of Coffs Harbour’s contentious $82 million Yarrila Place – an edgy building housing a library, art gallery, museum and council services – was opened by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on September 16.

In the first three weeks of operation, punters – of all walks and ages – have been taking more than a look.

The hi-tech Harry Bailey Memorial Library Library split over three-levels has recorded some 19,000 visitors, according to the council.

Hot on its heels is the art gallery and museum, with 8912 through the doors.

Gareth Budge led a workshop titled Wild Designs for Coffs Harbour students at Yarrila Place.

That equates to about 9000 per week accessing the cultural facilities (though that average may be inflated by people visiting both the library and the gallery/museum).

Still, those numbers compare more than favourably with big ticket sports events Coffs has proudly become home to – NRL matches and Big Bash cricket games.

A big crowd turned out for the official opening of Yarrila Place. Picture: Chris Knight

During its construction phase many vented on social media that Yarrila Place – all $82m of it – was an overreach for a regional city.

But early usage figures show it is anything but the green elephant on Gordon St.

Patrick Day tests out the mayor's chair in the new council chambers. Picture: Chris Knight

The library has been the standout.

Those expecting musty books and shooshing librarians may have needed a lie down after seeing a conga-line of flat screens – and, heavens forbid, wall-to-wall teens clamouring for digital creativity.

By design, the library is innovative, even left field. People can hire board games and fancy cake tins which are expensive to buy outright, often for just a single-bake.

The eclectic formula has proven a winner, with more than 730 people adding their name to the library membership list.

In theme with Peggy Zephyr’s exhibition Please Walk On The Grass and inspired by Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, more than 50 participants enjoyed an “old-school” game of Pass The Parcel at Yarrila Place, Coffs Harbour.

“We’re off to a flying start with locals currently driving our great visitor numbers,” city planning and communities director Ian Fitzgibbon said.

“Nearly every STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) kit and Lego kit has been borrowed. A third of the cake tins are currently on loan – and board games are proving popular too,” he said.

Purpose-built study nooks have been a ‘lock’ for local students polishing up for the HSC exams.

All the arts and library programs running across The Workshop, Make Space and Digital Studio were booked out for the school holidays.

“Yarrila Place is definitely the new go-to place for people to meet,” Mr Fitzgibbon said.

“People are meeting under the fig tree, queuing to enter the library, using the atrium as a walkway, catching up for coffee at the 2D Coffee House and wandering around the building admiring the architecture.”