Uniting Church starts on community centre

After many years of planning, work has started on a new community centre at the Umina Uniting Church on the corner of Neptune St and Ocean Beach Rd.
Scheduled for completion at the end of November, the new community centre will provide greatly improved facilities for both church activities and the community service groups who have been using the church halls for their meetings.
The church has been on its present site since 1970, and over the past 30 years, many different groups ranging from Scouts to playgroups, Alcoholics Anonymous to Red Cross made good use of the old halls which the new centre is replacing.
Over all of this period, the church itself has run activities for children, youth, family groups and retirees, and all of these groups are looking forward to the opportunities which they will have in the new building.
The old halls were recently demolished and removed to the Myall Lakes district for re-erection as an artist's studio.
They were built originally in West St as the Umina Methodist Church and in South St as Scots Presbyterian Church.
In 1970, both buildings were moved to the Neptune St site as Umina shopping centre was growing, making parking and access difficult.
At the same time, the Woy Woy Methodist Church in Victoria Rd was sold, and the sale proceeds enabled the two buildings to be joined together with kitchen and storage facilities.
Until 1978, this facility served as the church and hall, and on completion of the present brick church in that year, the building became known as the "Small Hall" and the "Large Hall".
A separate toilet block in the courtyard was a well-known talking point for all who used the church and halls.
The new community centre will be joined to the present church.
From a single entrance facing Neptune St, a large foyer area will lead to the church, to a meeting area with folding doors, to a modem servery, to a large activities hall and to toilets and showers.
The needs of people with disabilities have been given a high priority in all parts of the new centre and also in the church which underwent extensive renovations last year.
The Broken Bay Uniting Church Parish has launched a fund-raising drive for the new community centre, which will cost in the vicinity of $550,000.
A grant has been received from The NSW Uniting Church Mission Resource Fund, and a bequest from a former church member was a valuable contribution.
Church groups are undertaking various fundraising activities.
Because it is a building which will contribute to community life on the Peninsula, the chairperson of the fund-raising committee, local solicitor Alistair Knibb, is inviting local clubs and businesses to make a donation to the project.
Donations can be sent to the Uniting Church Office, 346 Ocean Beach Road, Umina.