By Ruza Zivkusic
KEILOR’S historic church has been sold to a local man who plans to open it to the community.
The buyer, who remained anonymous during last Saturday’s auction, bought the 129-year-old Christ Church for $1.25 million after it was passed in at $1.03 million.
Berry Plant real estate spokesman James Hatzimoisis said the buyer was given the first option to purchase the church but he declined because he wanted to remain anonymous.
He then approached the Anglican Diocese half an hour after the auction ended and purchased the church, Mr Hatzimoisis said.
“They’ve told us that they planned not to touch the structure and they would leave it as it is,” Mr Hatzimoisis said.
Keilor resident and member of the Keilor Historical Society Kevin Rowles expressed great pleasure over the sale.
He said he knew the buyer “very well” as he was “working closely” with him.
He added that the man was a religious person who did not want to see the church demolished or replaced by multi-purpose units.
“He wants to keep the character of Keilor. He’s intending to use the church during Sundays and to use the building for community purposes on the other days of the week,” Mr Rowles said.
Mr Rowles said the man also planned to form a community group that would look after the church and provide maintenance.
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Keilor Residents and Ratepayers Association president Susan Jennison, who was one of the 200 residents present at the auction, said the association’s members would like to meet the new owner and discuss ways of having the church open to the public.
Sally Patty, the property manager for the Anglican Diocese, said during the auction that the “whole emphasis was towards the people of the church”.
“I would hope that somebody did something sensitive to it,” Ms Patty said.
She added that before the auction, she had received “unpleasant letters and phone calls” from residents expressing their disapproval of possible multi-purpose units being built at the site.
“I was pleased that there was no problems (during the auction). I did in fact ask the police to drive past at one stage because I was worried,” she said.
There were two bidders on the day.
