Prominent church and hall to go under hammer

A CHURCH building constructed in 1901 along with its adjoining community hall building (circa 1915) and separate vacant allotment, located at 213 Arnold Street North Bendigo, will go up for auction on Friday 21 February.

The church itself was designed by William Beebe (1857-1920), a prominent architect and Bendigo City Councillor who designed many other notable buildings in the city.

It took about six weeks to build at a cost of £1000.

Total land size over the two titles measures around 2440 square metres, while the red-brick church has approximately 240 square metres of floor space.

The community hall building is weatherboard-clad with six rooms of various sizes and approximately 260 square metres of floor space.

It’s expected to be sold for $1,200,000 to $1,300,000.

Lead agent Andrew Pearce from Tweed Sutherland First National described the opportunity as “very rare.”

“There’s not many churches of this era in Bendigo that get sold, so people (need) to consider that they’re buying something that won’t come up again,” he said.

While he said it would turn into an impressive residence, there are other alternatives.

“You might have some community groups that purchase it,” he said. “You might have four or five different community groups that all pitch in.

“It’s a lot of money for one group, but ultimately, if they pulled their resources, it’s actually probably quite affordable.”

Mr Pearce said the buildings are not in great repair and that there is work to do.

“Someone who purchases this is going to (have to) put the time and effort and the money into it, (but) they’re going to have a fantastic property once they’ve completed the project,” he said.

Further details are available on the Tweed Sutherland First National website.