Wesley Methodist Church Re-Opens After Major Refurbishment
A CHURCH has officially re-opened its doors following an ambitious renovation project which has taken more than two years to complete from design to completion.
Wesley Church Centre, on St John Street, in Chester city centre, has seen volunteers and members raise £469,000 at a lavish ceremony over the weekend, opened by the Town Crier.
Officials present at the event included city MP Christine Russell, the Lord Mayor of Chester Cllr John Ebo his wife the Lady Mayoress Miriam,architect Peter Farrall, representatives of building contractor Nobles Construction Ltd, Methodism and other city centre churches.
The project, called Wesley Renewal 2010, had seen the church temporarily close its doors earlier this year to Sunday services as work got under way to fit a new kitchen and servery, a new entrance to the worship area and level access to all areas, new toilets, a lift and an atrium. It is hoped the 100-year-old church will now become a multi-use community centre.
Project team member Sue Ramsey said: "The project team have been working on this for two years now and are delighted with the end result.
"We are even more pleased that the reaction to the alterations and improvements, from both the church family and members of the public, has been so positive."
The open day showcased the centre and some of its user groups. There were displays which showed the history of the church and photographs showed stages in the building works. Wesley's mission development officer, Andrew Herbert, said: "These alterations provide a host of benefits, from improved volunteering and learning opportunities in our coffee bar, better community facilities and crucially the flexibility to run events during coffee bar hours. This opens up new possibilities with our partner organisations like Connexions and Chester Victoria Children's Centre."
There are still further events planned to raise an extra £31,000 to reach their goal of £500,000.
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This article appeared in the Chester Leader on Monday, 26th January 2010. The link to the original article is here: http://www.chesterfirst.co.uk/news/84293/chester-church-re-opens-after-major-re-furbishment.aspx
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