It's a concept only for now, but the Bega Showground Land Manager committee has had design drawings drafted and are looking for community support ahead of the cut-off for Bushfire Local Economic Recovery Fund applications late January.

Land manager chairman Charlie Bell and committee members Phil Moffitt and John Hamilton spoke to ACM this week about the proposal.

They said the preliminary exploration of the idea had already had a favourable response from Crown Lands and the Bega Valley Shire Council.

The pavilion and attached outbuildings have been used as the official evacuation centre twice in just two years, both times workable, but lacking in many areas - not least of which is the absence of wheelchair access.

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The Fine Arts Pavilion with the white timber panel facade is actually the original showground building. The brick pavilion came later in 1905, with the kitchen and office buildings tacked on in later generations.

For decades it has been used for concerts, dances, deb balls, HSC exams and countless other events over and above its role during the annual Bega Show.

Mr Hamilton said that as hard as everyone worked during those traumatic days when it became the evacuation centre, "the place is just not set up well for it".

"It was an unusual situation for us," Mr Bell added. "The showground is usually an evacuation spot for animals and livestock in a flood, but people don't usually get evacuated. Now it's been twice in two years."

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The redevelopment plan involves the complete removal of all the buildings adjoining the state heritage-listed brick pavilion, and replacing them with an extensive two-floor building "sympathetic to the pavilion's heritage status".

As well as large function spaces, there would be accessible amenities on both floors, provision for a commercial kitchen, a lift between floors and a ticket office for showground events and function room bookings.

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Key to the design is having the ground floor level with the existing pavilion, which Mr Moffitt estimated would see at least 1500 cubic metres of earth removed. However the result would be level access and a top floor height equal to the existing pavilion roof.

The building would be fully air-conditioned, which the committee planned would continue through to the existing pavilion along with new flooring.

The showground already caters for small groups including dancers, Pilates classes and martial arts clubs, which have limited financial means to utilise community space. Having improved facilities and amenities would make the community space more enticing to others as well, Mr Bell said.

"Everything we do here we do for the community, on behalf of Crown Lands," Mr Bell said.

"We're looking to the future," Mr Hamilton added.