Ed,
I read in the 29th January 2025 edition of the Independent that a $13,000,000 Community Precinct is to be built on River Street at Maclean. It will be a great addition to the cultural hub of the town with the tiered auditorium to seat 288 as well as other facilities.
Some years ago, in the very distant past, Grafton was also lucky to have a Community Centre built for us as our cultural hub. The auditorium was large and catered for 300 guests as well as other facilities, meeting rooms etc which made it a place to be revered and cherished by the whole community.
Despite considerable community resistance, Council gave it away.
The various organisations who had started to embrace it were left “in the lurch”.
This seems to be a common practice by our elected representatives.
It would appear that we are not getting it back any time soon so an alternate community centre should be constructed. The perfect site is the old Bunnings building on the corner of Pound & Duke streets with one of its attributes being ample parking. This building has only been used for a period of time as the Construction Site Office for the second bridge. Bunnings moved to their current location some 18 or 19 years ago.
A like amount of money i.e. $13,000,000 as set aside for the Maclean Community Precinct, should be sourced to purchase this site and build a ‘Grafton Community Centre’ to replace our lost facility. With the new councillors taking up the reins for the next four years it is a perfect time to stamp their mark on their period of community service.
Kevin & Anne Walter, Waterview Heights