Māpua’s old church is about to get a spruce up, with plans to turn it into a community hub.
Elena Meredith is part of the Māpua Community Wellbeing Trust’s working group that wants to turn the church into a community space with multiple uses, including youth activities that can be a bit boisterous within the Māpua Hall.
The group is working on a lease agreement with the Hills Community Church across the road to use the old church as the base for the Māpua Community Hub. Then it can seek funding and volunteers to give the building a bit of a makeover as well as employing a coordinator to actively promotes activities.
“The trick will be having some regular groups that have the time and willingness in their commitment to it.”
Only a few groups use the old church and Elena says it is an underused building with good space outside that can be used by the community.
“It’s a great big building where Kidz and Koffee meet once a week and a couple of other groups. We’re rapt with the groups that are already using it, but we want the whole building being used all the time.
“It’s one of those buildings that will evolve to meet the needs of people. It needs to be used and loved.”
She says the proposed Māpua Community Hub will not duplicate activities that take place in the Māpua Hall but will offer more community space for the growing community.
“This is a growing community and we want to make sure there is a range of activities. We love our community hall and totally support what it is doing and aren’t interested in competing with it at all.”
The old church has a few rooms around the main interior of the church, plus a kitchen, and Elena says groups will have the ability to store gear so they can go and use it every day. It is also an old building that she says can take a few knocks if balls hit the walls and ceilings.
“It doesn’t matter so much if there’s a bit of wear and tear, so some of the youth activities that aren’t suitable in the hall can be done here.”
Once the old church is spruced up, she says it will be a useful facility for Māpua School which does not have a hall and the school has already expressed an interest in using the space.
The group had been lobbying for a district health clinic and though the old church does not have adequate facilities for the clinic, Elena says it led to a clinic now going ahead in Hills Community Church.
