RM100m centre to cater to all Naveen Mathew Menon

The Calvary Convention Centre is slated to be ready by 2010.

KUALA LUMPUR: The new RM100 million Calvary Convention Centre, under construction in Bukit Jalil, will cater not only to church members but to all Malaysians living in the Klang Valley.

The centre will have seminar and workshop rooms, a recording studio, dance, arts and drama training rooms, a stage for large productions, a prayer hall, and high-tech audio-visual and multimedia equipment.

There will be classrooms for Sunday school, lecture halls, an adult and children's library and a nursery care centre.

The covered entrance plaza can be used for exhibitions, said pastor David Seah.

"Besides all these, we will have a recreation hall, gymnasium, a banquet hall that can seat a thousand, a cafeteria where people can take a break and have a wholesome meal, a bookstore, administrative offices, counselling rooms and even hostels and guest apartments.

"There will be a three-level basement car park and a garden sanctuary.

"The convention centre will be able to seat 5,000 people."

Construction kicked off last year and is slated to be completed in 2010.

"The design of the convention centre is unique. It has three striking design features.

"We wanted the building to have a strong spiritual element so it will have 'wings' symbolising the angels.

"And if you had a bird's eye view of the building, you would see that it is shaped like a pair of hands locked together in prayer.

"The water fountain at the front of the church signifies that our church has embraced the calling to be a 'fountainhead church'."

Financing for the building came mostly through donations from church members. There are over 10,000 members of Calvary Church in Malaysia.

Calvary Church is part of Assemblies of God Malaysia, which recently celebrated its 40th anniversary here.

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