Mulgrave Community Baptist Church

The Mulgrave Community Baptist Church, Edmonton is a member of the Queensland Baptists. The church purchased the old ‘Hambledon station’ theme-park building from the old Sugarworld Gardens in 2000. It was a ‘mini railway station’ to board a sugar-cane train ride in the complex. The church purchased the building and car-parking outright, later adding another adjoining parcel of land purchased from the Coles developers next to the church site. This brought the full parcel up to 2.25acres. The official opening and dedication of the building was in 2001. The congregation met in this building continuously until February 2019. In 2018-2019 wet season (December-February) the faux bell tower on the building suffered water and wind damage, along with the major box-guttering along the entry-ways to the building. The church continued to meet out of Isabella State School multipurpose building and shared Cairns Baptist’s building (Lake Street in Cairns) during the repair and renovation period. The building underwent major ‘roof surgery’ to remove the bell tower, front facades and box guttering, ‘stitch’ the portico entry rooflines into the main roof structure and re-sheet the damaged portions. The interior received all new electrical wiring, lighting, fans and air conditioning, a suspended acoustic tile ceiling, and insulation, a new main stage and sound-panelling made out of the old church pew frames recycled and repurposed. There was a new stainless steel kitchen added into an enclosed patio area, along with a new ministry room, a new wheelchair toilet/shower and an ambulant toilet/shower facility, plus revamped main m/f toilets and hand-basins. The auditorium also received emergency exit lighting, new cameras, projectors and screens, audio system and tech booth, along with chairs donated by James Cook University teaching rooms. The entries and exits were all upgraded from roller-doors to the new panic-doors and the whole building brought up to building code standards. The congregation moved back into the building in October 2021. The church subdivided their property and sold a portion to pay for the repairs and renovations. A childcare centre is currently being constructed (2023) on the subdivided land and will open mid-late 2024.[Text provided by Pastor O'Connor]. Photographs uploaded 18/8/2023.