The original Crossways House as it looked in May 2008

The New Crossways Trust grew out of the desire of the Mt Victoria community to save Crossways, the 1900-era house on the corner of Brougham and Elizabeth Streets that had functioned as a community centre for 30 years.

Crossways was originally purchased by the Presbyterian Church in 1978, after they sold the old church at the corner of Kent Terrace and Pirie Street. This is now the site of KFC.

The Mt Victoria Presbyterian Church amalgamated with St Andrews on The Terrace in 2004, and the combined church made the decision to sell Crossways to fund the upgrade of St Andrews on The Terrace in April 2007.

The Church originally intended to sell Crossways in October 2007, but after an outcry from residents the sale was put on hold for a year. This was achieved with the help of the Wellington City Council, who contributed $70,000 to the Church to enable them to start work on the renovations at St Andrews.

Local residents formed the Crossways Community Trust to save the building and re-purpose it for the 21st Century. The Trust raised more than $1 million from local donations, a grant from an anonymous Trust, and a loan from Kiwibank, and on the strength of these commitments offered the Church $1.2 million for the property in June 2008. Around $250,000 of this was a proposed grant from the Wellington City Council.

However the Church made the decision that they wanted more money, and declined the Trust’s offer in favour of a public tender. Partly as a consequence, the Wellington City Council voted against a grant to the Mt Victoria community, leaving the Trust at a disadvantage when it came time to put in a tender.

As a result, the building was sold to a private buyer for $1.3 million in August 2008 - a figure which was well short of the $1.5 million the Church thought the building was worth, and barely more than the community had offered once real estate agent fees and marketing costs had been deducted.

The building ceased functioning as Mt Victoria’s community centre in October 2008.

The Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra playing at our first open day!

Photos of some of the successful fundraising events the trust organised can be found here.