Visionwest has purchased the vacant Salvation Army church building at 275 Glengarry Road, Glen Eden to cope with growth on its Glendale Rd site.
On Wednesday, April 21st, a number of representatives from Visionwest, the Salvation Army and Glen Eden Baptist Church met for a short informal key-handover gathering.
The Salvation Army was represented by church leaders and members, many of whom had been part of the church since it opened just over 20 years ago. Divisional Leader, Ian Gainsford called the afternoon a bittersweet moment. While sad to see the building leave Salvation Army hands, he was pleased that it would transfer into the hands of a group who shared the same values. “Lives have been changed in this building,” he said, “and lives will continue to be changed because of Visionwest’s work here.”
In accepting the ownership of the building on behalf of Visionwest, Lisa Woolley spoke of the need to honour all who had gone before and to acknowledge the history of positive support that had been given to the surrounding community. “This building was located here to be a place used by the community to serve the community,” she said. “It’s great that it can continue to be used in that way – a blessing to the community.”
The church building is large with three levels that will require converting into office spaces. It’s set on a large section with ample parking and a separate building that was once the Salvation Army Community House. Having outgrown the Glen Eden campus, Visionwest has purchased the building to be used as office space although it has not yet been decided which departments will move to the Glengarry Road building.
To find out more about Visionwest’s work, click here.