Public finally see £1m plan for Bullingdon Community Centre

It has taken years for a plan for Bullingdon Community Centre to be settled on – but it will be demolished and rebuilt as part of an innovative project.

It is thought the centre was built in the late 1940s – and pictures of a party held there to celebrate the Queen’s coronation in June 1953 adorn the walls – but it is showing its age.

The city council has installed joists to hold up one side of the centre to stop the impact of subsidence.

It is owned by the council but run by the Bullingdon Community Association, which has fought to have it replaced over recent years.

The association’s secretary Richard Bryant said the new community centre is ‘beyond its wildest dreams’.

Up to 500 people use the building every week, including a Mencap group which has had its home there since 1963.

Speaking at an exhibition of the new designs at the hall on Thursday, Mr Bryant said he was happy to have moved on from times when the future of the community centre looked unclear.

He added: "We were pretty desperate. It’s moved on, especially since then. For quite a time it was very uncertain."

Barrie Finch, a city resident, said: “If they have listened to the local community that is good news.”

The new design has been proposed by Park End Street's Jessop and Cook Architects.

It will work again with the city council on proposals for the renovation of the Floyds Row homeless centre, near Oxford Central police station.

Its other designs include the Oxford Artisan Distillery in South Park.

Pat Kennedy, Labour city councillor for Lye Valley, said she was pleased the rebuild is finally taking shape.

She said: “I have been pushing since 2014 for the rebuilding. What’s been really good is that [the association has] spoken to the architects and they have taken on board what they have been saying.”

A new mosaic will take pride of place at the front of the new community centre, in Peat Moors.

The building will be specially made and then transported in separate parts to the site, in Peat Moors, allowing easy and quick construction.

The decaying of the building saw two props installed in 2016 in the community centre's main hall and then another seven in 2017. They remain to keep the roof up and to ensure it is still safe to use.

Marie Tidball, the city council's cabinet member for supporting local communities, said the unveiling of the new designs was 'really exciting'.

The centre currently is the home to parent and toddler groups, the Orinoco recycling store, older people's groups and a Swap Shop.

Football teams also use pitches next to the community centre.

The city council's cabinet will decide on whether the application should be submitted for planning permission in the autumn – but that is likely to be a formality.

It could be open a year later.