West Midlands church unveils £3m plans to expand and become a 'destination and a launchpad'
Bold plans have been revealed for a new church building at Alumwell Resource Centre in Walsall.
The Church at Junction 10 has submitted a proposal to Walsall Council to build on its current premises on Wolverhampton Road.
Already at the site is an existing ‘temporary’ modular building which was built in the last six months at a cost £700,000, funded by Walsall Council.
From the modular bulding, the Church at Junction 10 offers services working with the council, NHS, police, as well as faith-based partners, local schools, residents, and charity partners.
The church said it wanted to retain the modular building as it would be ‘massively unsustainable’ for it to be discarded after such a short period of time.
The site was formerly used by the Walsall Evangelical Church built in 1988, but it was demolished in 2015 to make way for the Alumwell Resource Centre.
Work commenced in 2018 but was postponed due to lack of funds. However, earlier this year the project received £3.02million in funding from the Community Regeneration Partnership which has got the project back on track.
The Church at Junction 10 said the scheme will be broken down into three phases.
Firstly, the church hopes to purchase the modular building from the council, carry out basic infrastructure upgrades, and continue offering its services.
The recently submitted plans detail phase two of the project which includes building an additional floor above the existing modular building.
If approved, the first floor will house a multi-use arena and chapel with 520 seats, three meeting rooms and a foyer cafe area. Below in the existing building will be a second hall, a training kitchen, nursery and office spaces.
Outside the main building there will be a car park with 50 spaces and a large external activity area with a shade canopy. The proposals also detail a ‘living green roof’ on the main building.
Phase three includes the ‘long-term anchoring’ of the Alumwell Resource Centre, to make it a ‘self-sustaining social and spiritual engine for transformation’.
The documents state that the premises will be a place for micro-businesses, start up and charitable enterprises, as well as event hire, and home for faith groups.
The Church at Junction 10 said: “Together, these phases represent not only the physical development of a building but the maturation of a movement for place-based renewal. The ARC, once completed, will be both a destination and a launchpad — a place of welcome, formation, recovery, and new beginnings in Alumwell and beyond.”
