An expectant buzz greeted people at the Vestry Hall meeting on Thursday 18th May 2006 at Shiloh Church in Spital Hill. The Burngreave community was widely represented with a good turn out.
There were displays by the various participants on the project, particular interest was shown in the architectural model. Architect, Simon Gedye, was very willing to answer questions and explain the model, the fittings and purposes of each room.
Chair of the meeting, Rev Dr John Vincent, gave a brief history of the previous use of the Vestry Hall, which included weddings, meetings, announcing the election results as well as the early beginnings of many organisations.
In the 1990s the Council could no longer sustain it financially. It was then that Sarah Saxon, a community worker, supported local people to raise funding to refurbish the building. John Mellor (pictured above right) gave a brief history of the Vestry Hall Trust’s campaign to renovate the building. He displayed an illustration from an 1879 London newspaper, which showed children lined up at the side entrance for bread and soup.
New Deal’s Education Theme Manager, Jon Cowley (pictured above left), clad in his Vestry Hall t-shirt, conveyed his vision for the Vestry Hall as a 21st century facility, though keeping its original features. He stressed the importance of it being sustainable after the initial 18 months to two years funding from New Deal, this and the refurbishment is estimated to cost £3 million. The ongoing maintenance costs could be £100,000 per year, hence the importance of stringent management to avoid it becoming an expensive white elephant. It is intended that it will be used for community activities, youth after-school activities, meetings, weddings and other functions, the main room having a capacity to hold 150 people. Most importantly it will be a place for good education and training to take place. He ended his speech imploring everyone, “It’s an exciting time, get involved, we’ll make a great success of this.”
The architect, designer, and construction team answered questions and invited members in the audience to participate, whether by serving on the management committee, or voicing their ideas. Concern was expressed that the Vestry Hall could suffer from vandalism and that smaller IT facilities would be displaced by the Vestry’s facilities. It was promised that the concerns aired would be looked in to and addressed as best as possible.
Vestry Hall t-shirts are presently on sale for £5.00. For more information contact John Mellor on 243 6305.
For more information about the Vestry Hall plans contact Jon Cowley on 292 2908.
You can also see Richard Hanson’s photos of the renovation work at http://www.vestryhall.co.uk/.
by Camille Daughma
