Uniting Church reaches new heights in $41m development

WITH an art gallery, theatre, cafe and auditorium planned at Parramatta’s Leigh Memorial Church, there will be no excuses for skipping mass on Sunday.

Development of the Leigh Memorial Church is set to redefine the church in Parramatta. Picture: Supplied.

NO LONGER are church pews reserved for only the most pious, a new development at the Uniting Church will bring all manner of people and events to the heritage-listed site.

The 19th century facades of the Leigh Memorial Church will be revitalised with plans for a $41 million multi-use hub including an auditorium, cafe and gallery spanning three buildings in Parramatta’s city centre.

The current Macquarie St site will be given a complete overhaul alongside the Epworth House and Fellowship Place which will be transformed into a joint residential and commercial development backing onto council’s Parramatta Square.

Leigh Memorial Church will be restored to its former glory with a planned $41m development. Picture: Supplied.

Senior Minister and Parramatta Mission chief executive Keith Hamilton revealed the vision for the development as meeting point, referencing the site’s early history.

“The square has always been a meeting place. I think what makes this so unique is that we are bringing all the services together in the centre of the city,” he said.

“We are a Christian church that is open to the world. We want to ensure that what we do is a gathering place and space for anyone and everyone no matter their religious beliefs — whether they are homeless or in business.

“It will add to Parramatta’s Civic Square and boost the social inclusion of the city to inspire the common good.”

Reverend Keith Hamilton has unveiled a $41m plan for the church and mission.

The Uniting Church has been inspired by the likes of St Martin-in-the-Fields in Trafalgar Square and St Paul’s Chapel in New York to create a building with a greater use than just the traditional church services.

“We will have the capacity to hold 700 in the church building as well as a 200-seat auditorium to enable community groups to come together for concerts, entertainment and dramatic performances,” Rev Hamilton said.

“We have been around since 1818 and we plan on being here for another 200 years — to ensure we do that we need to be constantly engaging with the public.”

NSW Governor David Hurley and his wife Linda with volunteers at Parramatta Mission earlier this year.

The functions of Parramatta Mission will operate from Fellowship House, the focal point of which will be a multi-level foyer and gathering space, below 16 storeys of residential apartments.

A key feature will be the enterprise cafe where job seekers can work in a commercial environment to learn practical hospitality skills as well as an extension of the organisations current work.

“Those sleeping rough in the area can take refuge in a common location unlike typical crisis accommodation or shelters,” Rev Hamilton said.

“Instead of a boarding set-up we provide all the services they need in one place and provide long term solutions.”

The second block, 13-storey Epworth House, will provide commercial office space which will be leased to fund the organisations work.

The original Leigh Memorial Church.

TALL ORDER

Standing at 43 metres tall, the spire of the Leigh Memorial Church once was the highest across the fledgling city of Parramatta.

Almost a century after it was taken down following damage by a lightning strike, the height of the steeple will be rebuilt.

“We will put the spire back to become a marker point in the city — for the church and all that goes with it,” Rev. Hamilton said.

The site at Macquarie St has been a place of worship since 1821, the current iteration the third church on that site.

At the opening on June 21, 1885 it was the tallest in a handful of parishes popping up across the city but after an ‘act of God’ in 1919 it had to be removed.

A bolt of lightning was believed to have hit the spire, causing it to buckle at an awkward angle posing a risk for passers by and churchgoers.

Steeplejack removing the spire in 1919.

The steeple will be restored almost 200 years later.

With nothing but a line to catch his fall Norwegian ‘steeplejack’ Louis Vinge was tasked with removing the wrangled metal, and since that day the Church has been without steeple.

In a nod to the significance of the feature, the development has been dubbed inSpire and Rev Hamilton hopes it will do just that.

“Its all about the community coming together to do whatever needs to be done so that everyone can live life to the full,” he said.

The Victorian Gothic architecture of the building will be restored and celebrated with a three-storey ‘gathering space’ to be open for public use and connection between the church and buildings with a glass roof at the level of the eaves.