As soon as we got access on site, one of the jobs we’ve been able to move forward with has been working on the residence on site. From what we’ve been told, the previous church had been using the house as temporary or emergency housing. Altogether it had 7 bedrooms divided into 3 semi-attached residences.
We’ve decided to put in some elbow grease, bring it up to scratch, and use it for some similar outcomes.
First, we’ve demolished the 2 bedrooms downstairs and opened up that entire space to use as a shared multi-purpose space which opens up onto the grass area to the North of the house. (For the moment, we’ve had to store all the bench seating from the auditorium in this space while that gets renovated).
Second, we’ve delineated the Eastern side of the house as the Garden Cottage. The plan is to keep using this for temporary emergency housing. However, these rooms needed some serious work; we’ve replaced some gyprock, pulled out some joinery, pulled up the carpet, given it a lick of paint, etc. It should be ready in the next few weeks.
Third, we’ve delineated the Western side of the building as the Garden Wing. These rooms are already in pretty good shape with a kitchen and bathroom and a large living areas. The Garden Wing will be used as office space with a photocopier, desks, meeting tables, etc.