Keysborough residents have amped up their pledge to save the historic 150 year old Wesleyan chapel
New developments might be the craze in Melbourne’s southeast but these residents are doing their bit to remind everyone of a crucial piece of history that could be lost.
South East
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A holy row is brewing over the fate of a 150-year-old church in Melbourne’s southeast with a community campaign to save it before it “completely deteriorates”.
The Westeyan church in Keysbsorough is the second oldest building in the suburb, built in 1877, and has been left to rot, with more than 2200 people signing a petition for the Uniting Church to hand the building over to the community to fix.
Chris Keys, a director of The Friends of Historic Keysborough Chapel, wants the Uniting Church to match the generous spirit of the pioneers who built the church.
“All we’re asking for is the generosity from the church that was given to them by the pioneers of Keysborough,” she said.
“It was the place where the village congregated. It was the place where people met and quite often got married.
“It has deteriorated since then unfortunately … if you go in now it’s covered in graffiti”.
The Uniting Church made a promise to the community group about three years ago that the chapel would be handed to the group, though fellow director and Greater Dandenong councillor Rhonda Garad said members are “getting antsy” over the delays.
“If it drags on there may be nothing to save,” she said.
“We’re really pushing hard for this handover to happen soon.
“The vision is for the site to be a very community oriented place.
“Options for it could an art gallery, cafes and places to meet are options … we want to give the suburb a heart”.
A Uniting Church spokesman said the plan remained for the chapel to be handed over to the community.
“We are progressing with internal approvals to help facilitate the subdivision of the site to allow the two churches to be passed to a community group, with the balance of the site likely to be divested to the open market,” they said.
“City of Greater Dandenong has indicated it will try to assist the process with a fast-tracked subdivision of the site and a likely open space contribution exemption given the Uniting Church’s in principle willingness to allow the land the historic churches are located upon to be transferred at peppercorn value to community group ownership, to help introduce a new long term ownership of the historic buildings”.
