Principal on a quest to involve kids in community hub project
By Evan Harding Stuff / Southland Times Apr 30 2024
A principal who wants her pupils to make use of a new multi-purpose community building in south Invercargill is getting them involved in the project before it’s even built.
More than $3 million has so far been raised for the $4.5m Grace St Project, a community-driven initiative in the heart of the south city area.
The former Grace St Chapel would be partly demolished, renovated and rebuilt to give residents a place to learn, play, socialise and connect in different spaces within the building. Construction is expected to begin in November.
Fernworth Primary School principal Alison Cook showed about 230 of the school’s pupils through the old church building on Tuesday, seven months before physical works would begin to turn it into a community hub.
“I want them involved from the start so they respect it and love it and have a voice in it,” she said.
“If they feel like it belongs to them, they will get much better use of it, hopefully.”
The children would learn about the construction process, and they would use Minecraft to design how they would use the building and what they wanted in the rooms, she said.
Having a centrally located building with a mix of groups and lots of positive role models was good for any community, Cook said.
“[It will be] lovely for our kids to have another safe space where they can go and do things.”
She also hoped other schools would use the community hub.
Grace St Project leader Janette Malcolm said $3.1m had so far been raised towards the $4.5m project.
Talks had begun with businesses and philanthropists to contribute towards the $1.4m funding shortfall, she said. “There are some promising leads.”
The Invercargill Licensing Trust was the latest organisation to donate money to the project. The trust made a grant of $250,000 a week ago, on top of its previous grant of $320,000, Malcolm said.
- The Southland Times
Grace St Project building manager Nick Hamlin, overall project leader and fundraiser Janette Malcolm, architect Brent Knight and Fernworth Primary School principal Alison Cook, with Fernworth pupils. They are inside the former Grace St Chapel, which will be converted into a community hub for south Invercargill.
