Work to transform the Church of the Ascension building in Thorold Road is expected to be underway by the end of the year. The Church wants to create “a building that enables the community to access the Church and the Church to reach out to its community”. It’s felt that the current space within the building can be inflexible. It’s also difficult to heat, and not accessible. Church House, at 27 Cobden Avenue, is also expensive to maintain, and the Parish Hall at Lacon Close would have needed large amounts of money to bring it up to standard.
The idea is for the main building to include all the present resources
and more, by dividing it into two areas: a community area will be at
the tower end and a worship space at the sanctuary end. Better access
will be offered with a main entrance on the corner of Thorold Road and
Cobden Avenue. There will be an extension on the Thorold Road side
accommodating office space, toilets and a café, with a new youth
facility in the basement. The community area will provide a main hall
and meeting rooms, with sight of the stained glass windows being
preserved.“We are all very excited about the project to provide modern facilities for worshipping and for the community, and are looking forward to welcoming the builders on site before the end of the year,” said Rev Sarah Chapman.
A booklet, giving a potted history of the parish and information and
more detail about plans for reordering the Church has been prepared,
which includes photographs and architect’s images of the final
appearance. This is also available on the Church’s website here.The congregation will be joining with that of All Hallows at Witts Hill, Midanbury, while the work is in progress.