Page 7 - BOL Nov 21 Edition

From Humble Beginnings – Our Local Hall

Now our much loved Mango Hill Community Centre

It is 1986 with members of the fledgling Mango Hill Progress
Association assembling for their monthly meeting in a neighbour’s
garage or living room in the Mango Hill Village, a long way from
what one called civilisation (ie; shops, schools and community
hall). From our humble beginnings, there was a burning desire to
have a “home of our own” where local community groups could
meet. The Progress Association lobbied the then Pine Rivers Shire
Council for a Community Hall.

When this former school demountable arrived in November
1987, the “local park” (now known as Danzy Buchanan Park)
was bare ground, devoid of trees and only two years earlier a
filled in “swamp”. Yes, this was our “meeting place”, with external
louvres, an internal wall, no kitchen facility, no internal toilets and
certainly no air conditioning. But it was ours and the members of
the Progress Association set to work to make it a HOME!

Volunteers painted the building which also included external
water tanks and external toilets, which were the order of the day
prior to installation of water & sewerage.

From 1987 to 1997, the Progress Association Volunteers raised
over $50,000 to paint the building, construct an internal “kitchen”,
replace louvres with windows and insect screens, install fans and
remove the internal wall that turned two “school rooms” into a
Hall whilst Council constructed a Toilet Block for hall users.

The Management Committee of the Progress Association
was recognized as the managers of the hall with the aim of
encouraging local groups to use the hall for a rapidly expanding
community, well before the arrival of North Lakes. In the
meantime, the Association with its’ own funds and grants from
Federal, State and Local Government, designed and constructed
a Tennis Court (opened in Oct 1990) and Basketball court,
in 1996.

It was not until 1997 that Pine Rivers Shire Council finally
accepted its obligation to upgrade the hall with the first
extension including what is now the kitchen and the hallway
with cupboard facilities. It was not until a decade later that
Council “relented” to our persistent and numerous requests, for
internal toilets to be added to the hall.

In 2007, Mrs Yvonne Chapman (Mayor of Pine Rivers Shire)
opened the Mango HIll Community Hall that we know and love
today.

Over a period of 35 years, the Mango HIll Community Centre
has been a home for the Mango Hill Progress Association (3rd
Wednesday of the month) and numerous community groups
from all areas of society.

Next Progress Association Meeting:
Wednesday 17th November 2021

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