Centre Closed for Term 1 Due to Flooding

February 7, 2019

Over the Australia Day long weekend (January 26 – 28), a pipe burst in the wall of the Copland Room. While the maintenance team worked furiously to remove as much water from the Centre as fast as possible, it was clear that the damage to the Centre would be extensive. In addition to the meeting rooms, our office was flooded leading to a loss of all of our computer equipment.

Carpet tiles in some of our rooms were lifted and replaced in the few days that followed, and it was thought that we may be able to continue with classes, and undertake larger repairs at a later date. Further inspection in the following days confirmed that repair work needed to start immediately and we needed to vacate the building. It is estimated that the flood damage will take 8-10 weeks to complete.

> photos of the flooding damage and the beginning of the repair work can be found here

To repair the flood damage, all of the flooring in the Centre needs to be lifted, skirting boards removed and in-built cabinetry removed. All other furniture is also being removed and placed in storage and/or being moved to other alternative venues for our classes. The building then needs to be completely dry before new materials can be installed.

Our staff are working hard to organise alternative venues for each of our classes so we can conduct our classes for Term 1. At this stage we will should be able to return to the Centre and resume classes there for Term 2.

We are hoping to resume Term 1 classes at our alternative venues the week starting February 18. For our term-based classes, we will providing refunds for classes we have had to cancel due to the flooding and relocation.

We appreciate your patience while we make these arrangements, it is a challenging task finding and co-ordinating access and the set up of new venues, ensuring the equipment can be transported and stored, communicating the change of arrangements to all enrolled students, and doing all of this with limited phone access and limited computer equipment.

We will be updating our website with general Centre updates and new timetables, along with posting updates on our Facebook and Instagram pages. We will be sending class specific information to all of our currently enrolled students via email through our enrolment system, and through the WhatsApp groups set up for each class. All of our phones are currently being diverted to voicemail.

As soon as new dates and venues have been confirmed we will be contacting the tutors and students of that class, and updating the details on our website.

Thank you again for your understanding in this challenging time for the Centre, and please be assured that we are doing all we can to lock in new venues so you can enjoy the rest of the term!