By Tyler Wright
In late October 2021, Kallista Community House was rendered uninhabitable after a portion of the building’s ceiling collapsed, and is still yet to be reopened to the public.
Building repairs are now expected to be completed within 12 to 18 months, with Yarra Ranges Council confirming it is working through cost implications of the rebuild.
As part of the investigation, Yarra Ranges Council engaged an environmental hygienist to conduct several assessments due to the water damage, which identified elevated concentration levels of mould, both in the air and on the surfaces, finding the community house could not be occupied in its current state.
Public Officer Committee of Management at Kallista Community House, Kathy Cann, said the committee expected the building would be “repaired quickly and assumed that we would reopen for Term 1 2022”.
“Due to the closure, the Community House was forced to cancel all programs, relocate social inclusion groups to other locations and cancel the Kallista Market, which had been closed due to Covid, but was scheduled to recommence in November 2021 as the house facilities could not be used,” Ms Cann said.
Ms Cann, said the committee has received a “great deal of feedback” in relation to the cancellation of learning opportunities, playgroups, community activities and social inclusion groups which have come to a halt, and is awaiting a response from Yarra Ranges Council as to when the facility will be repaired.
Yarra Ranges Council have provided the Board and Management of Kallista Community House with potential relocation options for their consideration while repair work to the building is being planned and carried out, and anticipates services at Kallista Community House will resume when the house reopens.
‘We know the Kallista Community House is such an important community building and is the heart of the community,” Yarra Ranges Council’s Director of Communities Jane Price said.
“We wanted to ensure we comprehensively understood the damage, and therefore undertook an investigation to fully assess the extent and impact of the water damage.
“Unfortunately, this assessment identified some underlying historical problems related to water entering the building, high humidity in the building and mould.”
Ms Cann said the long term impacts of the buidling’s closure are yet to be felt.
