Church ‘set for disused offices’

ERIN PEARSON
TORQUAY’S former shire office is set to become a church, according to Torquay Christian Fellowship.
Pastor Chris Rowney said the fellowship, a branch of the Baptist church, was preparing to start work on the Grossmans Rd facility.
The church would take over 1.62 hectares of the former shire site.
Mr Rowney hoped work would begin in March for the church to open later this year.
The fellowship had already sold its Boston Rd premises in preparation for the move, he said.
The 150-member congregation had outgrown the Boston Rd building.
Mr Rowney said the church still had to clear “legislative hoops” and finalise contracts before starting work.
“It’s a fairly good facility for us as it will set us up for the next couple of generations. We’d begun to get too big for our old building and this new site will give us many more options for growth into the future.”
Surf Coast Shire accepted the church’s application to buy part of the former council office site in August.
The shire had relied on the sale of the Grossmans Rd building to finance a new $10 million office on Merrijig Dve, off Surf Coast Hwy. The office is part of the shire’s $40 million “community and civic precinct”.
Mr Rowney said the church would give the former office “significant” renovations.
“We plan on carrying out changes to make the building suitable for a church auditorium and office space.
“The portable buildings on the site will be renovated for a youth hub and child care facilities will be introduced also. The outside of the buildings won’t be affected.”
Former mayor Dean Webster said in a statement last year that council retained one hectare of land containing the former shire works depot .
Cr Webster said “limited interest” in the remaining parcel of land had prompted council to seek a rezoning for residential development.