Halesowen centre group show they mean business
The campaign to reopen a former Sons of Rest building in Halesowen for the community has gathered pace after a business plan for the development was lodged with council bosses.
Campaigners have formed a new company called Hasbury Community Association to put pressure on Dudley Council.
Officials had proposed selling the building, near Alexandra Road and Wall Well, and put it on the market last year. But residents say they want a new community hub and pleaded for a future for the premises built on land donated to the town in 1947 by the then mayor Lionel Rose.
The building was constructed in 1948 as one of five Sons of Rest sites in the Halesowen area to be used by war veterans.
It was previously home to Huntingtree Seniors Leisure Centre but this was closed in 2011 by Dudley Council.
Now campaigners are pushing to raise £5,000 with a series of fundraisers to enable them to kickstart a charity to manage the centre.
Councillor Donella Russell, who is heading up the scheme with campaigner Ian Cooper, said: "We are raising money to help with the fight to keep this building open and for the use of the community.
"The business plan has now gone in and the fundraising has started to provide the centre with the stability it initially requires."
Campaigners say the only reason the site was closed was due to falling use because of rising rent prices for use by groups.
The group claims to have found about 20 groups which would use the site in the future, but at a cheaper rate than they faced before the centre closed.
Dudley Council's legal boss, Councillor Gaye Partridge, said the authority was looking at "a number of options for the future" of the building including the community proposals.
Members of the public are invited to the next group meeting at the Huntingtree pub, also in Alexandra Road, from 7pm tomorrow.
It is unclear at this stage how long it will take for council officials to assess the business plan but they are hoping for a resolution in the coming weeks.
Options previously looked at for the building included it being transformed as a new home for the Halesowen-based Earls Gym where Olympic gymnastics medallist Kristian Thomas is a member.
