This article was previously published in One Earth magazine Volume 5 Issue 3, in March/April 1985.

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Last September a lively discussion arose in the weekly attunement of the Park kitchen group around the need to replace our aluminium pots. From there, we moved rapidly to the need to update other kitchen equipment … and then to the necessity for changes in the dining area and lounge .. . and, almost before we realised it, we were talking about a resplendent new Community Centre catering for a multitudinous variety of needs.

Now I find myself holding the focus for bringing the vision of this new Community Centre into reality. That kitchen group attunement was the seed point for a ‘quantum leap’: a new Community Centre is now regarded as a priority community project. Within a matter of weeks, community members were meeting on the subject, enthusiastically contributing their ideas on how it should look and what it should incorporate, their imaginations unbridled by any thought of material limitations. And at their Annual General Meeting in November, the Trustees of the Foundation recognised the urgent need for a new Community Centre and called on the community to present a timetable by early 1985 for its design, funding and
construction.

In terms of its evolution, our community now stands on the threshold of transition from a ‘closed’ membership institution to an ‘open’ village community. It is not easy for many of us to comprehend the implications or to visualise, on a spiritual level, what is meant by a village community. If we take it on the form level we can visualise the typical traditional British village where life revolves around the church and the ‘local’ (or village pub). Here in the Findhorn community we already have our sanctuaries, as well as our awesomely inspiring Universal Hall which provides the setting for gatherings of a cultural and educational nature as well as our own musical and Terpsichorean activities. But what of the ‘local’? Could the equivalent be the Community Centre? Perhaps. And perhaps it could be more than that. Let us see.

One of our immediate economic and practical needs is for a kitchen and dining area which can cater for up to 450 people at conference and other special times. Our plans for the new building include a dining area which can serve such numbers, but which can also be reduced in size, by partitioning, to accommodate both our summer numbers (still fairly substantial, with a large proportion of guests) and our winter rhythms, when we are mostly ‘ family’ with just a few guests.

The space that is partitioned off could be used as a communal ‘games’ area – for activities such as pool, snooker, darts, table tennis and possibly card games.

But there is more to a Community Centre than space for cooking, eating and playing together. We also see the need for activities such as baking, food processing and preserving, deep-freezing, and dryfood and fruit and vegetable storage. In addition to these, we plan special areas for food recycling, dish-washing and garbage disposal.

In the enthusiasm of envisioning our next steps, other amenities are also being incorporated into the new building. For some time we have been aware of the need for a larger and more coordinated reception area for guests and waiting visitors, and provision is made for this – we envisage the area having low coffee tables and appropriate chairs – as well as for an interview room. There will be a mail area facility, a special telephone facility open 24 hours a day, and we also hope to establish a sub Post Office.

Another major feature will be the lounge. This is planned for the first floor (to get the view over the Bay), and will have an open log fire and comfortable armchairs, settees and writing tables. A small kitchen for snack and tea making will be attached. A separate room for the inevitable TV is also planned, as well as a rumpus room for the children.

Outside we have planned a sun porch, and we are looking at extending the existing garden space. Our herb garden will remain undisturbed.

For those of you who know the Caravan Park, the idea is that as you turn in from the main road you should see a landscaped garden to your left leading up to an L-shaped building with a lot of glass, hopefully blending in with the background, and with the apex of the Universal Hall appearing just over the roof of the complex.

We aim to have the new Community Centre plans ready for presentation to the community by April 1. Thereafter we will be applying for planning permission and hope to begin construction in 1986.

Our current Community Centre is a much-loved building which has served us well. It was born 16 years ago, out of a total faith in the future of this community: a membership of 15 built a centre able to cater for 200, stepping boldly into the unknown with no idea of how or whom the building was to serve, or where the resources would come from for its construction.

Our enduring vision here at the Findhorn Foundation is to create a heaven on earth. I see our current transition to an open village community as part of this process. This is surely why we are all here, working together to create and demonstrate a new way of living together as a family in harmony with the Earth. We are once again stepping boldly into the unknown, and I see the new Community Centre as not just another building complex, but a sentient representation of our shift in consciousness and the heart-beat of our emerging new ‘modus vivendi villaticae’.