Official opening planned for new Lichfield community hall

by Ross 15th June, 201014th June, 2010

Lichfield’s new Darwin Park Community Hall is set to be officially opened. The ceremony will be performed by the city’s mayor, councillor Christopher Spruce, at 10am on June 26. The official opening will be followed by an Open Day until 4pm where people will be able to look around the new hall. Other events during the day include stalls and displays by some of the local groups who will be using the hall  , a workshop where visitors can make a textured clay tile – a selection of which will be used to form a large wall mural in the Hall – and free refreshments served by volunteers from the management committee. City Council Leader, David Smedley, said:

“I am delighted that this project has at last come to fruition. Like other areas of the city, the residents of the new Darwin Park and Chesterfield Road estates need somewhere to meet as a community. The hall has been built to a very high standard and with energy efficiency items such as the ground source heat pump and natural ventilation it will be a low cost building to run.”

The £785,000 hall has been built by Lichfield City Council, funded by £750,000 from developers. The building has a main hall (seating 120) plus a meeting room and kitchen, and its day to day running will be undertaken by a new Darwin Park Community Association. The Hall includes several green features, including an under-floor heating system fed by a ground source heat pump which collects heat from 100 metres below ground. Groups such as a pre-school playgroup have already booked the venue.