Parish secretary Claire Radford said the redevelopment of the church site began in 2019 when parishioners voted to demolish St James Church, due to issues with earthquake safety, and build a small chapel on the King Edward St site. The church was demolished in February, 2020.
However, after consultation and plans were drawn up, parishioners realised building a new chapel would be too expensive. So it was decided to ramp-up renovations to turn the two on-site church halls, Chalmers Hall (built 1936) and Reid Hall (built 1913), into multi-use spaces for worship and for activities for parishioners and community groups.
The project, which has cost an estimated $300,000, has been done in increments over several years, much of the funding coming from the sale of Musselburgh Presbyterian Church.
The Dunedin South Presbyterian Church parish now incorporates the congregations of St James, Musselburgh and the former Anderson’s Bay parish, and has about 35 active members.
Chalmers Hall has undergone the most extensive renovations, led by parish treasurer and handyman Graeme Welsh, including replacing the wooden floor, fixing windows, installing wider doors, and recycling kauri from the St James Church pews into wood panelling lining the walls, where plaques and wall hangings from the church are displayed.
In addition, two large and beautiful stained glass windows from the church have been reshaped into four panels, cleaned and back-lit with LED lights by specialist Peter Mackenzie, of Otago Stained Glass.
"These stained glass windows were on the shady side of the church, so their colours were never really seen," Mr Welsh said.
"So, now that they are cleaned up and have lights behind them, they are looking great."
While the new Australian hardwood floor was installed by local contractor Wilson and Stroud Construction, Mr Welsh and his brother, Murray Welsh, did the work of turning the old pews into boards themselves.
The project has also involved developing a carpark where the old church was, and creating a grassed area at the back of the site.
Dunedin South Presbyterian Church minister Rev Geoffrey Skilton said the renovation had transformed Chalmers Hall into a warm and inviting chapel for worship It was adaptable and could be used by community groups for meetings and other activities.
"Both church halls are well used and very popular with the community groups — we have dance groups, tai chi, aerobics and all sorts happening here," he said.
"We are a small congregation, so it is wonderful to have come up with such a flexible solution for the issue of dealing with an old church building — something which works for the wider community as well."
Members of the church and community and hall users are invited to a service of thanksgiving this Sunday at 10am. This will be followed by a special morning tea and the planting of three fruit trees.
