Evenwood’s Cornerstone Christian Centre has reopened for community events after a £70,000 refurbishment.
It has taken almost four years for the building to get a complete overhaul. Work began with repairs to rear hall’s ceiling which had collapsed.
Pastor Andrew Kay, of the centre, said: “The building is well over 150 years old. Paint was coming off, plaster was coming off. The toilets were so cold and damp.
“It wasn’t for the 21st century. The last time it was renovated was in the early 1990s and we really haven’t done anything since then.”
Work proceeded to renovate the kitchen, then the middle hall and finally the front main hall where services are held.
Along with the refurbishment, retired GP Dr Joe Said made two ornate metal crosses which have been attached to the main entrances, and joiner Lee Ramsey, who did the carpentry for the centre, gifted a wooden cross for the stage in the main hall.
Although services continued to be held in the centre throughout the refurbishment, it was closed to community groups and events. These are set to return from September.
Pastor Kay said: “Now we have the middle room set up with tables, we are going to have a weekly café. It is a place where people can come once a week to start with to see how it goes.
“The hall at the back will be used for a monthly messy church, a weekly toddler group, and one of the men in church is wanting to do a men’s drop-in session. We have got table-tennis tables, we’ve got a pool table and, basically, they can just come to have a chat.”
There are also plans to have a sewing club and to invite residents from a local care home to come over to enjoy refreshments and the community garden.
The pastor said: “We are trying to work together with John Bogle of the Randolph Community Centre so we are not doubling up on things. We will make sure we are not doing things on the same day.
“This is who we are, church serving the community.”
The bulk of the refurbishment was covered by church funds, along with an £11,500 grant from Teesdale Action Partnership and an unexpected but welcome gift of almost £15,000 from a centre supporter.
