Sponsored by
New Sikh temple as part of regeneration
DONCASTER'S first Sikh temple 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 temple's 240-strong committee unanimously voted to replace the ageing building, to coincide with the 300 million redevelopment of the nearby Waterdale area.
Doncaster's Sikhs have used the building as a temple since around 1970 after previously worshipping at a house in Cemetery Road, Hyde Park.
The temple 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 temple in Balby Road but College Road was the first Sikh temple in Doncaster.
"It was a flagship temple in its day and the new building is going to be a premier temple attracting people from all across Yorkshire and will be used for the next 50 years."
The committee voted to replace the temple 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 temple in readiness for the building work which will be carried out by Julian Cox builders.
The 500 people who attend the temple will worship in the site's community centre while the work is completed.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Doncaster
Friday 25 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 20 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: East
