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People in Newlyn will have the chance to take their first look around
the port's new community hall when its doors are opened at the
weekend.The church bazaar and craft fair, due to take place at The
Centre on Saturday, will mark the end of eight years of planning and
more than 12 months of building work to provide Newlyn with a modern,
multi-purpose, facility.
At
a cost of £800,000, the former Trinity Church schoolrooms on Chywoone
Hill have been renovated and extended. They now feature two large
halls, a kitchen, a sound-proofed music suite, and several meeting
rooms. A third floor has also been added to the building.
Last
week, the Rev Julyan Drew, minister of Newlyn Trinity Methodist Church,
which owns the building, was handed the keys and conducted a ceremony
to bless The Centre.
He said he was delighted with the finished
product and hoped that the versatile space would be used by a wide
range of community groups.
He added: "We started a project eight
years ago and initially we were thinking of renovating the chapel, but
during community consultations people were telling us that they needed
a space for community events."
In order to meet that need the
church went about raising more than three quarters of a million pounds
through grants and donations.
Mr Drew added: "It's been a huge
effort from lots of people, and the team work that's gone into it has
been fantastic. Of the £800,000 we needed £250,000 was raised locally
by numerous fundraising events which we were very grateful for."
The
Centre will be run by Jerry Drew, who says there has already been
considerable interest from local groups interested in making use of the
building, unique in Newlyn.
SureStart, the Three Village Youth
Project, the Brownies, the Guides, a short mat bowls club and Network
Training are among the organisations due to operate from the building,
while EverybodyOnline, a local project to promote internet use, will
also be based at The Centre, which has been fitted with a wireless
broadband connection.
Mr Drew explained: "Our hope is that we
can respond to the needs of the community. We didn't want to define the
uses for all the rooms, instead they are just 'spaces' as far as we are
concerned.
"The idea is that we want to keep it simple and make sure we are flexible to changing needs."
Part of the renovation work has seen the former school room made wider, to allow the introduction of a dedicated reception area.
According
to Mr Drew it will allow several events to run simultaneously,
something that wasn't possible in the past when all visitors entered
through the main hall.
This week a small team of builders were
putting the finishing touches to The Centre which is set to be a hive
of activity on Saturday for its inaugural events.
The craft fair
will run from 9am in the downstairs hall and a church bazaar will be
held from 10am in the main hall, the opening of which is of particular
significant to one group of keen watchers.
It will provide a new
home for the congregation of the Newlyn Trinity church, which has been
displaced during the lengthy building works.
Soon the focal
point of worship will be a new sanctuary, due for completion in
December, which will feature the work of several local crafts people.
As well as bespoke oak flooring the impressive design is set to include
copper work and a specially commissioned stained glass window depicting
sights of Newlyn.
Julyan Drew believed the installation to be unique in Penwith and perhaps even the whole of the county.
The
sanctuary will be behind sliding doors which can be opened during
services, and closed off when other events are taking place in the hall.
Jerry
Drew said this week that he hoped as many local people as possible
would make it along during Saturday in order to have their say on
future uses for the building.
Article copyright THE CORNISHMAN
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