BendigoWeekly www.bendigoweekly.com.au
ISSUE 847 FRIDAY, JANUARY 10, 2014
WORSHIP AND MORE: The mosque is expected to be used by many members of the Bendigo community.
HAVE FAITH Image: GKA ARCHITECTS
EXCLUSIVE
By CHRISTINE McGINN
THE city’s first mosque is set to be built in East Bendigo. The $3 million Bendigo Islamic Centre planned for Rowena Street will feature two prayer halls to accommodate the city’s growing Muslim community. A community sports hall, office,
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Plans for Bendigo’s first mosque education facilities, a food court with a coffee shop and snacks, a three-bedroom caretaker home and two ancillary rooms will also be part of the building. About 150 Muslim families will use the 2000-square-metre space for prayer and community uses. Asher Greenwood of GKA Ar-
chitects said the two-storey, multiuse building was designed to have a ”community function”. “The building is designed around a series of courtyards. The building is more a community centre than prayer hall. It has been designed for many groups,” he said. “We have tried to link the build-
ing in with the rest of the community without impacting the outside community [landscape]. “We have tried to make the mosque much more open [than those in Melbourne]... so the whole community can go.” The centre will reflect an Australian-Muslim community and lo-
cal materials will be sourced for its production. The poly-carbonate, corrugated iron dome uses Australian materials and reflects a traditional Victorian dome. The Bendigo Islamic Centre will be developed in three stages with half of it completed in the first stage on the two-hectare lot.
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