6pm

Ballarat City Council is set to decide the fate of Civic Hall at 7pm tonight.

The hall has remained closed since holding its last event in 2002. Three major attempts to replace or renew it have failed.

It will be a long meeting, with 50 people registered to make public submissions before the decision. Each person will get up to five minutes to have their say. 

In anticipation of a large crowd at the meeting at Town Hall, a second room will be opened behind the main council chamber with a video screen showing the goings-on inside.

Extra seating will also be provided in the second floor reception area.

Eventually, the councillors will vote on a report that recommends demolishing the hall. They are expected to endorse it.

Our reporters will provide updates, photos and videos from Town Hall through the night. Refresh this page for the latest.

6.11pm

Mayor John Burt last week said he expected "strong debate" in the chamber tonight over the future of the Civic Hall, as he revealed the report recommending demolition.

Ditchy had a few thoughts about the councillors' wardrobe choices for the meeting.

6.18pm

People on Twitter are having fun choosing the soundtrack to tonight's proceedings using the hashtag #civichallsongs. Here are some of the best so far:

6.52pm

Speaking of Civic Hall songs, protesters are singing at the steps of Town Hall as the main council chamber fills up inside.

7.23pm

Members of the public have started asking questions of the council.

Regular council watcher and former candidate Gary Fitzgerald was up early, asking if the council had a conflict of interest when it came to making a decision on Civic Hall. The crowd applauded.

One person asked council how long it would take for the Civic Hall site to be redeveloped. Cr Burt said a decision on whether or not to demolish the building had to be made first.

The council was also asked if a building could be demolished without there being a plan for development. They said yes, but the crowd shouted "wrong!"

Cr Burt then asked the crowd not to applaud every question, as it would waste a lot of time. The response: "We've got time!"

It's going to be a long night.

You can also follow updates from the chamber on our Twitter account @ballaratcourier.

7.45pm

Councillors have just voted in favour of extending question time, which was originally meant to be 30 minutes.

Before that, a question about whether the council was ignoring community consultation that showed people wanted to retain Civic Hall was met with massive applause.

John Kilgour, the chief executive of Committee for Ballarat, also defended Cr Burt and city boss Anthony Schinck over the allegations of a conflict of interest.

7.51pm

Tonight's meeting at Town Hall is packed with residents who want to save the Civic Hall, but the discussion on Twitter is less sympathetic.

@Matthussy has pointed out that the Save Ballarat Civic Hall Facebook group has just 200 Likes, while @mattswards said that if the hall was kept, "the other side of the community will be ignored".

Perhaps @staggerlee7 put it most succinctly, though: "For what it is worth I am 100% in favour of demolition."

7.58pm

Finally, question time is over! 

The first item on the council agenda is about whether audio of council meetings should be made available online.

"Safe to say the public isn't as fired up on this one," say our reporters Rachel Afflick and Tom Cowie, who are updating on @ballaratcourier.

The motion was passed with amendments.

Photographer Adam Trafford has just sent some photos back of the packed gallery as well.

8.20pm

After that interlude, we're back to Civic Hall.

Cr Burt just said he understood the emotion in the chamber and he remembered Civic Hall being built.

He has reminded the crowd that public submissions are limited to three to five minutes each, with a bell rung at four minutes.

If all 50 submissions take four minutes each, that's... let me get a calculator. Three hours and 20 minutes in total, which would take us past 11.30pm.

8.45pm

Below is some vision from inside the chamber as one of the first submissions is heard.

One early speaker, Rachel Marrow (not sure of the exact spelling), said the Civic Hall should be used as a venue for all-age music gigs.

9.02pm

Time for the first tea break. Nine people have made their submissions so far. None have supported demolition of the hall.

9.25pm

As mentioned earlier, the Town Hall is packed with supporters of the Civic Hall, but people talking on Twitter tonight seem to have a different view. Here are some more tweets in favour of demolition.

The comments on the bottom of this story are broadly against the hall as well. Right now, the most popular one reads: "Knock it down! Knock it down! Knock it down!"

9.33pm

Former Ballarat mayor Stephen Jones is at Town Hall tonight, opposing the demolition of Civic Hall. Hear what he has to say below.

9.56pm

Here's the view from the second room, set up with a video screen showing events in the chamber to capture the spill of the crowd.

Inside the chamber, the public submissions are still going. People have been sharing their favourite memories of Civic Hall, from deb balls to rock concerts.

10.14pm

Robin Grow, the president of the Art Deco and Modernism Society, has travelled to Ballarat tonight to speak in favour of keeping the Civic Hall.

Mr Grow said the hall would be replaced by a "gaping sore" if demolished. The society is based in Camberwell in Melbourne. You can view its website here.

10.21pm

Three hours after the meeting started, and after 20 or so public submissions in favour of keeping the hall, the council has heard its first submission in favour of demolition.

Committee for Ballarat boss John Kilgour said "allowing private enterprise to come in is essential" for the future of the city.

Meanwhile, cheeky @preservesco on Twitter has "physical challenged" the next speaker to ask the councillors for some biscuits.

Tea and coffee have been available during the breaks, but no biscuits. Everyone must be getting pretty hungry by now.

10.30pm

Andrew Rowan from Commerce Ballarat has joined Mr Kilgour in backing development of the site, calling for a "commercial space" to heckles from the crowd.

Former council candidate Daniel Moloney wasn't impressed with the heckles, tweeting from @danielmoloney: "Disgusting booing of people in favour of demolishing #ballarat Civic Hall. You don't have to agree, but in a democracy we allow the debate."

No word yet on the latest in the #biscuitgate scandal. 

11.02pm

Clearly it's going to be a late night for everyone at Town Hall, which means it's also going to be a late night here in The Courier office.

We've called the printers and told them the paper is going to be sent to press later than usual, and we've mocked up two different front pages depending on the outcome of the council meeting.

Reporters Rachel Afflick and Tom Cowie are still at the meeting sending updates from @ballaratcourier, along with photographer Adam Trafford. Erin Williams and Lisa Knight, below, are doing a top job running the show behind the scenes in the office.

11.10pm

Cr Burt has called for a five-minute break between submissions. There are still 20 to be heard, which means we'll almost certainly be going past midnight.

The council has passed a formal motion to extend the meeting past 11pm.

11.35pm

There's been a breakthrough in #biscuitgate! The tea and coffee table has been turned into a paradise of snacks.

Meanwhile, the clock ticks on...

12pm

It's midnight, which means the council meeting has now been going for five hours. A few people on Twitter have wondered whether or not holding a debate this late at night will be productive.

@bernsta says: "I think it is unfair to discuss the Civic Hall issue this late at night and expect it to get a proper airing." 

It's a fair point, though on the other hand we've heard a lot of these arguments before as well. Quite a few times, in fact.

12.50am

Public submissions have finally ended. The last speaker summed up the thoughts of most people at Town Hall tonight: "We've taken on the fight and we intend to win."

We'll soon see if they will.

12.52am

Cr Burt and Cr Des Hudson have spoken in favour of demolishing Civic Hall.

12.57am

Cr Samantha McIntosh has spoken against demolition, to huge cheers from the gallery.

"It's about time we listened to what we're being told," she said. "We've gone from report to report, tying to find the outcome we want."

Cr McIntosh said demolishing the hall was "the coward's way out". She sat down to a standing ovation.

1.07am

Cr Josh Morris has spoken in favour of demolition. The crowd shouted "shame" and "sack the council" over the top of his speech.

1.11am

Cr John Philips has spoken in favour of demolition. He said there were 14 issues which made restoration of the hall unviable.

"A mere facelift would not solve the issues," he said.

1.18am

Cr Amy Johnson has spoken in favour of demolition. She cited cost as an issue, and also talked about commercial space and car parking.

Cr Burt asked the gallery to show respect while the councillors were speaking. The crowd replied with the loudest jeers of the night and the reply: "You should respect us!"

Sounds like it's getting ugly.

1.24am

Cr Vicki Coltman and Cr Belinda Coates have both spoken against the motion, but it won't be enough. Cr Peter Innes has spoken in favour.

1.40am

It's over. The council has voted 6-3 in favour of demolishing Civic Hall.

2am

We've sent the paper to press and updated the website with the council's decision. Now we're all off for the night (or rather, the morning). Thanks for joining our coverage.

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