| The New Building | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A building project for a new millennium | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
During 1998 and 1999, it became apparent that we were outgrowing our current building, both in terms of space in the hall,
but also in terms of the facilities available within the buidling. It was decided that we would begin to look for suitable, larger premises.
 Several buildings were looked at, but as Abergavenny is located on the edge of a National Park, between seven small mountains (or large hills, depending upon your perspective), and as the development of the centre of the town took place in the late 19th century, large buildings are difficult to find. |
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 Front of Building after old facia removed and security grille erected with Pete and Sue Davies and Andrew Knight |
We knew that the old cinema in Monk Street was empty and was in fact derelict, but plans were in place to turn it into a night club.
After a while we became aware that the plans were not being fulfilled and after making inquiries we put an offer in to the owners to purchase
the building.
This offer was accepted and then began the task of repairing, renovating and redesigning the building. We have had two collections so far within the church fellowship, which have raised the initial sums needed, but now have the building works to finance! We are planning to put an additional floor into the building to maximise the utilisation of space. |
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| We will have a large hall upstairs that will be able to hold several hundred people (the exact number will depend upon fire escape provisions), with creche, kitchen and church office facilities.
Downstairs we will have a small hall (seating 150 people), a number of smaller meeting and functional rooms, kitchen, coffee lounge and bookshop. Further facilities that will be included are a Pregnancy Crisis Counselling Centre and a recording studio. The main hall will eventually be fitted with modern audiovisual equipment, stage lighting sound desks and overhead projection facilities. |
 The Interior After Initial Cleanup |
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 Gareth Davies amid the debris |
We began work and by January 2000 we had removed the sloping floor and front steps; levelled the floor;
dug the footings for the load bearing interior walls and begun to pour concrete into the foundations in preparation for laying the ground floor and building the
walls that will form the ground floor rooms and support the upper floor.
The buildings was built in the early 1930's and has an 'art-deco' exterior appearance (see drawing at the top of every page). It is situated within a conservation area and great care is being taken to ensure that the final appearance reflects the intent of the original design and blends in with it's surroundings. |
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| 20th February 2000. The ground floor interior walls are nearing completion. It is the first time that we have been able to see how the rooms will look. We are hoping to begin the process of placing the upper floor cross members in a couple of weeks. |  Faster than a speeding bullet? It's the work team! |
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 The Walls Go Up. |
5th March 2000. More work on the walls has taken place in the last two weeks. It's now really taking shape!
The building works are being carried out by local craftsmen. 25th June 2000. The first floor is now (mainly) in place. Regular work teams are laying floor panels and nailing them to the joists (4kgs of nails have been used so far and we have not finished yet). Windows (well, holes at present) have been increased in height, lintels put in place and blockwork is being completed. At the moment access to the first floor is by ladder only, but that will change soon, with a lift for prams and wheelchairs and a staircase for those who need the exercise. |
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| May 2001. The lower floor now consists of a coffee bar area and kitchen, several other smaller rooms, for youth, prayer and sunday school and a smaller meeting hall which could hold about 120 people or be used for childrens and youth work. Additionally, there will soon
be a recording studio and a Pregnancy Counselling Centre. The upstairs has a main meeting hall, a small kitchen, several offices, a creche room and a foyer area. The meeting room is now in use on Sundays (we have had two weddings in there during September 2001). |
 The Upper Room. |
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| And Now The Outside | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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