Veteran rockers plead with Council to spare historic Pioneer Hall

In the 1960s, between them, Peter Goodger and Harry Mitchell performed hundreds of gigs at Wollongong CBD’s historic Pioneer Hall.

It was a very different live music era. There were strict dress rules (including no jeans), no alcohol, and definitely no “hanky panky”.

The Tornadoes were the local super group, pulling huge crowds to the hall in the mid-’60s. It was THE place for young people to hang out at a time when The Beatles ruled the airwaves, and Australia was enjoying its first major musical success overseas, with groups like the Bee Gees, The Easybeats and The Seekers topping the international charts.

Responding to a story in The Illawarra Flame that the more than 70-year-old Pioneer Hall on MacCabe Park was set for demolition due to its state of disrepair, two veterans of the local music scene decided to speak out.

At the eleventh hour, with the security fence in place ahead of the wrecking ball moving in, Pete Goodger, 81, and Harry Mitchell, 77, are pleading with Wollongong City Council to reconsider. They’ve questioned whether Council took into account the unique history of the place as a social venue, which over many years was at the heart of Wollongong‘s nightlife culture - hosting dances, concerts, markets, wrestling, sporting events and charity fundraisers.

“Back in the day we probably took the hall for granted to be honest with you,” Pete said. “The Tornadoes performed hundreds of gigs there on a Friday and Saturday night. It was fantastic, because it was right there in the centre of Wollongong.”

Pete, from Windang, believes Council has made a serious error condemning the building and in so doing taking away “a huge part of our city’s history”.

“I can’t understand why Council won’t at least paint it and freshen it up,” Pete said. “It could easily be modernised. I’ve been to places all over the world and these older buildings can look fantastic when done properly.”

Cultural significance

In the 1960s, Harry Mitchell’s bands, ESP and Fantasy regularly supported The Tornadoes on those hugely popular Friday and Saturday night shows at Pioneer Hall. Harry believes the hall is possibly the most culturally significant live music venue still standing (if only just) in the Illawarra region.

He said he was “gobsmacked” when he read in The Flame that Council had committed $340,000 to demolish the hall rather than invest an estimated $500,000 “to bring it back to life”.

“I definitely believe there should have been a heritage order placed on Pioneer Hall. There’s too much history that we‘re going to lose,” Harry said.

“Look at the hall; it’s not in bad shape. I saw the figures to pull it down instead of refurbishing it and the difference between the two is not a lot.

“Council, I urge you to reconsider your decision. I believe it should stay. It should be under a heritage order. We should preserve the history of what happened in that place. Once we lose that, that’s the end of all the old dance venues outside the club circuit,” Harry said.

For the musical Goodger family, Pioneer Hall was their home away from home.

Pete Goodger was the drummer and lead vocalist, brothers Robert (bass guitar), John (rhythm guitar), David (lead guitar), and later youngest brother Brian (piano) had a massive following.

Their dad, Ted, “ran the show”, Pete said. “He was the boss and the dances were very well run.” Mum, Hazel, “was at the door, taking six shillings for each entry.” (There was no such thing as credit cards or EFTPOS in those days).

Harry remembers the Goodger boys’ Uncle Bert and Aunty Beryl “selling orange juice and lemon juice from a table just to the side of the stage in plastic cups. There was never any alcohol, and if there was, Ted Goodger would call the police. He often finished the night bailing out whoever had been taken in.”

'Everyone followed the rules'

“It was a great venue, and it was so strict,” Harry said. “I can remember Ted Goodger ran it like he was the captain of the ship. Everyone followed his rules.”

“Dad wouldn’t allow any close dancing,” Pete added. “He used to put a sign up on the hall’s windows: ‘NO CLOSE DANCING!’ He didn’t want any shenanigans, no hanky panky whatsoever, and he made damn sure it didn’t happen.”

Despite all those rules, everyone loved their nights out at Pioneer Hall and romances did blossom there.

“Oh God. The amount of boys who met their girlfriends at the hall; it was quite astounding,” Pete said. ”I’m still running into people today that met their wives at Pioneer Hall.”

“It gave the kids in the Illawarra a place to go and meet boys and girls,” Harry said. “So, that’s why the hall was always so packed. Where can you go and do that these days?”

The Tornadoes also produced a magic formula, mixing the hit pop songs they’d rehearsed two days a week at the Goodger’s family home in Windang, with old-time dances.

“When the pop songs were played the boys were very shy and only a few boys would get up to dance with the girls,” Pete said. “But when the barn dance came on, all the shy boys got up as well. They only held the girls for a few seconds before moving her on to the next partner. They absolutely loved it.”

The end of an era

In the late 1960s the popularity of disco replaced live bands, and The Tornadoes' dream four-year run at Pioneer Hall came to an end. But the band played on, mainly at local clubs. “The clubs were popular, but they didn’t have what we had at Pioneer Hall,” Pete said.

When Bobby Goodger was tragically killed in a motorcycle accident at Warilla in December 1972, Harry was recruited to join “the number one band in town - the region, in fact”.

The Tornadoes enjoyed decades more success with an incredible run, playing weekly at Dapto Leagues Club for 26 years and 28 years at Shellharbour Workers Club, later to become the Shellharbour Club.

“We also did a 30-year run at Warilla Bowling Club, including a regular Monday night show, but that wasn’t continuous,” Harry said.

He still remembers the last Tornadoes gig like it was yesterday. “It was on the 29th of February, a leap year, in 2020. We walked off the stage and we said “see you at the next gig in a couple of weeks time”. And that was the last gig. COVID hit, and there was no live music for four years.”

In a statement, Council told The Illawarra Flame, the removal of Pioneer Hall from MacCabe Park would commence once a “pre-demolition hazardous materials survey” was completed. The long-term plan is to return the site to parkland.