It‘s a celebration of a 23-yearlong building project as the team at Belgrave Heights Convention Centre opened the final stage of their facility development for Summer Convention over the 2024 New Year.
Belgrave Heights Convention began in 1918, growing from small open-air meetings. BHC has continued for over 105 years to bring Christians together and see transformation in their lives as they hear the Word of God preached and practically applied. Over the years, facilities were built and developed, but by the late part of the last century, things were getting a little tired, and the Convention Council had to decide on the future of BHC.
CEO of BHC Geoff Gawler said that from the year 2000, the team developed a master plan for the property, which has been followed in principle since then. “If we were to value the work that‘s been done over the last 20 years, in very round terms, we will have done at least $20 million worth of work, which is significant given that much of our labor has been donated over that time,” said Geoff.
The latest and final addition, supported with a loan from BFS, which opened at the end of 2023, was a close to $12 million development to add new meeting rooms, new accommodation facilities for groups of 40-224 people (all rooms air-conditioned/heated with en-suite), and a dining room that seats up to 374 people, extending the existing capacity for BHS to cater for large conference groups.
“Many people will have memories of BHC over the years, but I’d encourage them to come and have another look. It’s certainly not the rustic venue it used to be! We now have a range of facilities that can cater to most budgets,” Geoff said.
More information on the facilities at Belgrave Heights Convention Centre can be found on their website: https://www.bhc.org.au