The chosen location for the Northern Community Hub is the DW Hope Site, 26-64 The Boulevard, Norlane.
The site is a large allotment which currently houses the Spanish, Filipino and German clubs and is situated in the northern region of Geelong. 
It has historical significance to the CALD community having once been the migrant hostel from the mid 1940’s to it’s closure in 1974.

The Commonwealth Government in the mid 1940’s established what was known as the British Migrant Hostel to accommodate migrants from many nationalities and over the next decade it was renamed the Norlane Hostel.


During the 1950s and 1960s the Norlane Hostel was a temporary home to thousands of migrants, many of whom took up work at the Ford, International Harvester and Shell. Some families stayed in the hostel for a few weeks during their initial settlement.
Other migrants, attracted by the affordable accommodation, stayed for up to five years.

Families and single people were accommodated in Nissen Huts and had access to a hall, communal kitchen, laundry facilities and recreation spaces. 
By 1973 the usage of the Hostel had diminished to the point where it was not viable. 
By this time the State Housing Commission owned the land, which they gave to the then Shire of Corio. 
The Commonwealth Government transferred ownership of the buildings to the Shire soon after.


During 1975, the Shire of Corio undertook a great deal of planning to convert the usage of the Nissen Huts from sleeping accommodation to community group usage. 
The site was named the DW Hope Community and Activities Centre in honour of a former Councillor. 
The huts were used as clubrooms for a wide range of community group interests from hobbies, ethnic affairs, cultural activities and simple common interest clubs. The Shire operated a Management Committee and maintained the site.

By the mid 1980s, the site had fallen into disrepair and some huts were removed from the site.

For the past 10 years, the City of Greater Geelong, Diversitat and a range of community groups have broadly discussed development of a major community building on the DW Hope site in Norlane which would provide space for shared community and meeting spaces for the CALD communities and some of the services of Diversitat.

Two feasibility study’s have been undertaken in late 2000 and 2006 that confirmed that the community supported the idea of such a development. 
The preliminary feasibility study also confirmed that the DW Hope site was the preferred location for such a development given that it had such a tremendous social and cultural significance for the whole region.

In December 2007 a unanimous vote was passed by council to transfer a portion of land at the DW Hope site to Diversitat for the development of the Northern Community Hub.   This process was completed in September 2009 with construction commencing in October 2009.