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Grace Church to complete Headingly Centre without Council funds
25 June 2008
Ken Polglase, the Project Coordinator for the Headingly Centre project announced today that the Grace Church Leadership had decided to withdraw its request for funding from Tasman District Council.
Mr Polglase said the increasing negative publicity being generated over the proposed Council contribution to the performing arts centre had prompted the withdrawal and the church now intended to complete the facility without a contribution from Council.
"Obviously this will place significant added pressure on our resources and is likely to mean the project may not be completed in its entirety for some time. However, our vision has not changed and we still intend to make this great facility available to the community of Tasman," Mr Polglase said.
"We understand that the knockers only represent a small portion of the community, but our concern is that the public debate on issues relating to the facility could go on for some time, and as a church whose aim and vision is to make a positive and constructive contribution to the wider community we can ill afford, nor have the desire to be involved in a protracted debate in the public arena.
"We are very grateful to those who have supported us and especially the Councillors and staff at Tasman District Council who have worked hard to try and bring this deal together for the benefit of all.
"In the mean time we welcome the public's continued interest in the project and invite you to come and check it out when we have another open day on site."
To date the members of the church have contributed $2.6m, which will bring the building to the closed in stage. A further $2.6m is required to complete the project.
"A year ago we realised that inflation was adding $1000 a day to the cost of the project so we decided to get started with the funding we had, in order to minimise the inflation effect," Mr Polglase said.
"In reality when you take into account the value of the land, the value of discounted supply of materials such as the LVL and MDF from Nelson Pine Industries, and other materials and labour that have been gifted to the project, coupled with the cost-effective manner in which the building is being erected, then the total value of the project is closer to $9m.
"We believe it will result in a fantastic venue at a very realistic cost which will benefit both the church and the district for years to come," Mr Polglase said.
Mayor of Tasman Richard Kempthorne said today he fully understood why Grace Church had made the decision to withdraw the application for Council funding.
"The small group of detractors who have been very vocal in their criticism of the project have made things very difficult for the congregation of Grace Church," he said.
"I have always been very supportive of Council contributing to the project to provide facilities beyond what the church needed, in order to make this a valuable community-wide asset.
"The proposal is offering great benefit to the community in relation to Council's financial contribution. Unfortunately this is a lost opportunity. It is disappointing that the few who have been grumbling have put such pressure on the members of the church congregation."
Mayor Kempthorne said he and the Council recognised the contribution the Headingly Centre would make to the community and would continue to support it in any way possible.
For more information contact:
Ken Polglase Ph 544 7071
or Richard Kempthorne, Ph 543 8400
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