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New Sikh gurdwara in Doncaster to
keep pace with regeneration
WSN Bureau
DONCASTER:
Doncaster's first Sikh gurdwara is to be demolished and replaced
with a new building as part of the town centre's regeneration.
Building work to
bulldoze the temple is set to start next week after members of the
Sikh community raised some of the £450,000 required to fund the
project.
The gurdwara's
240-strong committee unanimously voted to replace the ageing
building, to coincide with the £300 million redevelopment of the
nearby Waterdale area.
Doncaster
is a large town in South Yorkshire, England. it is about 20 miles
from
Sheffield.
Doncaster's
Sikhs have used the building as a gurdwara since around 1970 after
previously worshipping at a house in Cemetery Road, Hyde Park.
The gurdwara has
been fenced off to allow for the works to start. Once it is
demolished, a new two storey building should be completed in six
months.
Darshan Singh,
treasurer of the committee, said: "The building has fallen into a
bit of a neglected state. No matter what you did it was still going
to be an old building.
"Another reason
for the rebuild was to reflect what is happening in the town centre
with the Waterdale development.
"There is
another gurdwara in
Balby Road but
College Road was the first Sikh gurdwara in Doncaster.
"It was a
flagship gurdwara in its day and the new building is going to be a
premier gurdwara attracting people from all across
Yorkshire and
will be used for the next 50 years."
The committee
voted to replace the gurdwara rather than repair the existing
building or sell the site and build a new place of worship
elsewhere.
On Sunday the
Nishan Sahib - the Sikh holy flag - will be removed from the top of
the gurdwara in readiness for the building work which will be
carried out by Julian Cox builders.
The 500
people who attend the gurdwara will worship in the site's community
centre while the work is completed.
20 August, 2008
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