BUILDING OUR FUTURE
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THE JOURNEY SO FAR
On 27 April, 2022 U3A Redlands (U3AR) District Inc. announced their plans to build a U3A Redlands Centre on land which has been offered through the Redlands Research Facility.
U3AR has had a long-standing association with Cleveland District State High School where our office has been located since 2001. This was only intended as a temporary accommodation site with the aim of establishing a purpose-built stand-alone building as the goal. Current and past Presidents have worked tirelessly to try and secure land or premises to realise that goal. Finally, an opportunity presented itself to relocate to the grounds of the Redlands Research Facility at Delancy Street in Cleveland. U3A Redlands will join a number Universities and community tenants already on the facility and welcomed the opportunity to create a learning and administration centre alongside the existing U3A Garden.
Learn more about our Building Project journey
Building our Future (BOF) Project commenced with the establishment of a U3A Redlands Building Fund and in February 2023, we received Australian Taxation Office approval of Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) endorsement of the fund, meaning donations to the fund would be tax deductible.
By Jul 2022 U3AR we had applied for and won a Redland City Council (RCC) Project Support Grant for $9,577 for Stage 1 preliminary costs. This allowed us to engage an architect to prepare drawings and engineers to conduct some preliminary tests.
We needed to gather funds quickly so applied for two more grants for Stage 2 (slab, frame and roof) and Stage 3 (to lock-up) respectively. Stage 2 RCC Capital Infrastructure Grant for $49,896 was awarded in Dec 2022 on the proviso that U3A Redlands match the funding with another $49,896. This was the long-awaited confirmation that ensured the building project could finally get underway.
The game changer and huge financial boost to the Building our Future (BOF) Project was the announcement in September 2023 that we had been awarded the Gambling Community Benefit Fund Grant of $100,000. We now had funds up to Stage 3 (to lock-up), but we needed to contract a builder.
Invitations to Quote were distributed to a selection of builders, who were slow to respond. We compared quotes and conducted due diligence and were told that construction could be delayed due to the lack of availability of tradespeople and materials.
By October 2023 we had certified plans and a signed a contract with preferred builder Liona Constructions. A ground-breaking ceremony was held on the 8 November and construction commenced the following day. The slab, frame and roof were completed by early December, with builders to restart in January 2024.
