South New Brighton Community Centre opens

Christchurch City Council will officially open a new community facility
on the site of the demolished South New Brighton Community Centre
tonight (Friday 8 November).

The new transitional community centre, which is a joint venture between
the Council and the Lions Clubs International Foundation, will open at
6pm. It will be available for community use from tomorrow (Saturday 9
November).

With the help of Lions' funding, the Council has re-located the former
QEII Park Preschool building to the South New Brighton site, where it
has been placed onto new foundations, repaired and refurbished.

The South New Brighton Community Centre was badly damaged in the
February 2011 earthquake and was demolished in February this year. The
former QEII Park Preschool in Travis Road has also been closed since the
February 2011 earthquake. Most of the damage to the building was to its
foundations, which has been rectified by moving it to another site with
new foundations.

Since its relocation from QEII, new foundations have been built,
bringing the new community centre to 100 per cent of the New Building
Standard. The building has also been re-wired, re-plumbed, re-painted
and new carpet has been laid. There is a hall, meeting space and office
space available for public use.

Councillor Glenn Livingstone says he and Councillor David East are proud
to open the first new Council-owned community centre since the
earthquakes.

"This is a wonderful collaboration between the Council and the Lions. A
unique opportunity has been identified to transform a disused building
into a new facility, returning a much-loved and needed community centre
to South New Brighton residents."

Councillor David East says, "Replacing the earthquake-damaged community
centre was a priority for the Council due to the lack of alternative
gathering places in this area. It's wonderful to join with residents and
Lions to celebrate the re-opening of this fabulous new facility."

Lions District Governor John Benefield says it has been rewarding to
work with the Council to see this project come to fruition.

"Lions are right behind this initiative as it supports the recovery of
one of our hardest-hit communities post-earthquake. It's about enabling
residents to connect with each other."

The community centre will be used by the South New Brighton and
Southshore Residents' Groups. A number of other groups are also looking
forward to the facility re-opening, including dance, karate and
kickboxing groups and an after school programme.

South Brighton Residents' Association Events Co-ordinator Jane Harrison
says the group is very excited about the opening of the new transitional
community facility.

"As a very busy community group we have struggled to find places to
bring people together since the demolition of the previous community
centre. With the opening of the new facility, we will continue to
provide information sessions and community events for our community,
knowing that we have a warm and dry place to hold them."

South New Brighton Community Centre is one of 30 projects which the
Council in September 2012 identified as one of its top 30 projects for
funding, further investigations and, where possible, repairs.
ends

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