A celebration service last month offered a chance for St Luke’s Uniting Church congregation members in Morwell, and the wider community, to recognise an important milestone.
The July 12 service and ribbon cutting celebrated the completion of a major refurbishment of the Zoe Flats, a 50-year-old building with a long connection to the Morwell community and the Uniting Church.
St Luke’s secretary Anne Camier said the refurbishment had given new life to the building.
“No one remembers how this building got the name ‘Zoe’, but it means ‘life’,” Anne says.
“It has always been the intention of the St Luke’s congregation that the Zoe Flats should provide life-giving opportunities for people, and that our prominent site on Princes Drive should be used for the benefit of the Morwell community.”
That intention began in 1976, with construction of the Zoe Flats as a hostel for apprentices.
The accommodation was operated through to the late 1990s by St Luke’s and then Fusion Australia.
“Subsequently, with hostel-style accommodation becoming less popular, it was used for several other church and community programs,” Anne says.
“These included ‘Luke’s Place’ offering activities for marginalised youth, then office and storage areas supporting the Gippsland Uniting Presbytery, the ‘Arts Billabong’, annual arts festival, darts club and Men’s Shed.”
In 2022, St Luke’s obtained professional design drawings of a preferred development of the entire site, involving consultation with Uniting Vic.Tas and Latrobe City Council planners.
“As part of this the Zoe Flats were proposed to be refurbished for affordable accommodation, comprising six self-contained units, including some caretaker and community amenities,” Anne says.
“It was recognised in August 2023 that this was a priority and could be done by St Luke’s, without external funding sources, by using proceeds available from the sale of the church’s former manse in Doherty Avenue plus congregation donations.
“Local builder Tactor Builders has undertaken this work, with contributions from other Morwell suppliers and contractors, volunteers from Mobile Mission Maintenance and the St Luke’s congregation.”
Janet Swash and Ron Camier cut the ribbon to mark the refurbishment of the Zoe Flats.
Anne says the refurbishment was stage one of a wider plan to transform St Luke’s Princes Drive precinct into a vibrant community hub, adding housing and social spaces to the existing Men’s Shed and op shop.
“The second stage may involve partnership with a private developer to facilitate about 15 small home sites at the rear of the property,” she says.
“In addition, an upgraded community building would link the hall and op shop with the church, including new toilets and a café seating area adjacent to the existing commercial kitchen and community/fellowship room.”
Anne says St Luke’s congregation members are proud to continue their longstanding contribution to the community.
“This is a project which is being achieved by and for our Morwell community,” she says.
Anne’s husband Ron says the redevelopment has always been about more than restoring an old building.
“It’s not about buildings, it’s about people,” he says.
“We’re not just putting roofs over people’s heads.”
In a region facing increasing housing affordability challenges, St Luke’s hopes the Zoe Flats will offer more than a place to live: they aim to provide a place where people can belong.