It’s almost auction time for St John Invercargill’s playhouse and the site will soon be cleared for the new Southland District Headquarters.
On Friday 13th March, ASB Bank Invercargill presented a cheque for $1,531 they had raised.
St John Invercargill operations manager Cary Grant said teams were removing the asbestos from the old building in Clyde and Liddel Streets all of this week, ready for the demolition company to come in.
Momentum is also building as the organisation gets ready for the playhouse auction at its Invercargill retail store in Yarrow Street on March 26 at 6pm.
The Mitre10 Mega-gifted playhouse built by the famous ‘Easy As Stan,’ has been the focus of the local fundraising efforts for the district headquarters rebuild for weeks now.
Cary said the new facility was designed specifically with ambulance services in mind, and has been years in the planning.
The new multi-million dollar space will give people somewhere they can actually regroup, relax and recharge after a busy shift.
The station will also serve as a base for multiple St John stations across the district, and allow staff and volunteers from as far away as Queenstown to utilise the space.
St John Invercargill has been sharing the space with Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ), however both teams are now outgrowing their spaces.
The late Invercargill businessman Louis Crimp gave St John $1 million many years ago, which the organisation invested, and in December 2022 purchased the section.
The fundraising team from Christchurch has brought in their expertise too. They were behind the new Cromwell, Timaru and Rangiora St John rebuilds as well.
Cary said it was like looking after one big family, being able to design a new Southland District Headquarters for all of St John crew at the stations across the region.
“It’s nice to see change. Change is always a good thing.”
The fundraising committee has been having meetings with funders such as ILT, Aotea Gaming Trust ICC and the Southland Community Trust, as they will look to make grant applications.
