Outline Proposal for The Drill Hall
Below you can view an initial outline proposal describing Lifespring Church’s intent to acquire and use The Drill Hall as a community and conference centre as well as their administrative base and place of worship.
HIGH LEVEL OUTLINE
The Drill Hall is a well known and loved building in the heart of Horsham. We believe we can maximise the potential of this building for the benefit of the community, by sympathetically renovating and modifying the existing building, bringing this community space up to modern ecological and design standards.
As a Community Centre
We are committed to serving the community and take an active part in it and wish to extend our present voluntary work, which the Drill Hall would help facilitate.
We would look to create the following:
- An accessible community space available to use for people such as youth counsellors, social prescribers, community support workers, debt advisors etc.
- A place where people can connect with others, where we can provide training opportunities for people from all social and economic backgrounds.
- A family hub, where parents can get support and help to navigate the challenges of raising children and children can be encouraged and supported to become all they can be.
We also believe there is a need for this type of facility within the central Horsham area. The community could hire and use the space for a wide and varied range of activities.
As a Conference Centre
We would look to provide Horsham with a well presented and equipped conference and training facility. We would look to create space for groups up to 250, with catering facilities, cafe, and multiple breakout spaces, equipping it with the latest audio-visual capabilities whilst also seeking to minimise the ecological impact of the building.
Cultural Benefit
We would look to create a high-quality venue where people can come and enjoy many different genres of music, whilst also creating training space for young people and amateur musicians to learn how to do sound, stage lighting and perform.
We would also provide opportunity for local community groups to utilise this equipment and space, such as community choirs and local schools.
Given the buildings situation next to QM Studios, we would look to work alongside and support the great work they are already doing in the community.
Art Gallery Space
We would look to create gallery space for local artists to display their work. We would also look to put on community exhibitions which again offers opportunity to celebrate and encourage artists within the local community.
Ecological Impact
We would look to update and develop the building in multiple ways to meet modern ecological standards. Some of the ways include looking to install Solar Panels, changing over the existing gas fired boiler to a sustainable heat pump system, installing ventilation and also upgrading the lighting system to energy efficient lighting.
Final Comments
We recognise the Drill Hall is an important building and carries significance to the whole community of Horsham, in particular the armed forces and so any development work would be sympathetic, honouring the history and place of the Drill Hall in Horsham's past, whilst re-invigorating the building so it continues to be a place for all the community in the future.