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Saturday 4 September 2010

Community Centre opens to acclaim

The new Milford on Sea Community Centre opened its doors yesterday with music, celebration & over a thousand smiling faces. The new building is massively impressive & the achievement of the community a great example of what can be achieved when people pull together. The day was full of celebration & merriment. The official opening of the Milford on Sea Village Community Centre took place at 3.30pm Friday 3rd September when an esteemed group of local representatives from each of the past nine decades cut the ribbon. Margaret Richens the Community Centre chairman & Bob Bishop from the Parish Council gave short and impassioned opening speeches. As the New Forest Dixieland Band played, the local community were invited to view everything that was now available to them. Over the next two hours hundreds of happy people explored every nook & cranny, with sounds of approval everywhere. During the day a thank you was also made to all that contributed, with over 250 people attending the lunch or evening party featuring the Windmill Swing Band. Each guest invited had made a voluntary contribution to achieving our new gathering place in some way. If you missed the opening of the centre it is open between 10am to 4pm on Saturday & Sunday for people to drop in & take a look around.

Only a few months ago the Community Centre consisted of a few second hand portacabins, & today it is a welcoming eco friendly modern building. I won’t bore you with its credentials for saving the planet, mainly because I wasn’t listening when it was explained to me, but what I can tell you is that you will be impressed. The centre greets you with a light & airy entrance hall which takes you into the main corridor. From here you can access the Main Hall which has a fully functioning performance stage, lighting & sound equipment. The room also has an atrium ceiling which not only provides a light & spacious feel, but also dissipates the sound of background noise. The hall can seat around 125 diners or an anticipated 200 seated in ‘theatre style’. Across the corridor is the ‘Community Cafe’ which will be opening on a number of mornings for people to drop in & relax. The room also has computer facilities to operate as an ‘internet cafe’. When events are taking place, a magic shutter is opened to reveal a fully stocked bar. Next to this, and separated by a ‘folding wall’ is a ‘Boardroom’ which can seat around 25 people, and is available for meetings & small classes. The ‘folding wall’ unsurprisingly folds back, & when this happens a large additional function room is created. These rooms will also contain the ‘Smarter working Centre’ which will be a service to local small businesses & organisations from October. The main kitchen is substantial in size & fully equipped to cater for anyone using the centre. Modern building regulations have dictated the inclusion of four sets of toilets; a ladies & gents, one for the disabled & another unisex unit with baby changing facilities. It was slightly disappointing to find that government legislation did not stipulate that another one did not had to be provided for transsexuals or cross dressers.

The Youth Club is now situated in a large room at the back of the building providing games & entertainment for the younger members of the community, demonstrating the Community Centre has truly been built to include everyone. The building is modern & cutting edge in every aspect, from the mix of architectural gabled roofs, through to the use of sustainable timber & eco materials. Throughout the building’s interior is a clever colour scheme which achieves an effect that is both calming & striking. The choice of white as the main colour, with carefully selected accents in lime green, raspberry & deep purple, provide a mix of colours that do not work in the mind, but which become more that aesthetically pleasing when experienced in true colour. The well thought out decoration brings the building vibrantly alive & lightens the soul. (Blimey, I sound like that bloke from ‘Grand Designs!’) Finally, at the rear is an outside paved patio, a compact garden area, and the boiler house, which contains something very hi tech with lots of knobs, lights & switches, which was fascinating to some. To complete the transformation the ‘old Youth Club building’ has now become a modern dance & exercise studio with fully sprung professional dance floor & wall of mirrors. How I will look in leotards & leggings is scary, but it is tempting to give it a go.

Many have worked tirelessly to provide us all with a spectacular new village facility, and rather than leave anyone out, I am sure we would all like to say congratulations to everyone that played a part, for a job magnificently done.

Community Centre website

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