Wynnum local, BMD moves historic Church to new home at Iona College

Overnight, the former Baptist Church located at 168 Bay Terrace in Wynnum Central was safely relocated to its new home at Iona College in Lindum.

It marks a key milestone in Australia’s largest privately owned civil contractor, the BMD Group’s return to Wynnum to build its national headquarters in the heart of the bayside suburb.

Moving the more than 100-year-old structure was a significant task undertaken by a professional house remover and requiring a pilot driver, police escort and wide load approval.

The relocation involved staged delivery with the entries to the building removed and loaded on the first trailer, followed by the roof being lifted off the main building, and craned onto a second truck.

In the early hours this morning, the two trucks moved under escort from Bay Terrace to Iona College over a 4.5 kilometre commute which took four hours, while ensuring minimal disruption to the community.

Today, the building is being unloaded and reassembled in its new position at Iona College where over the coming months it will be restored and once again become a valued building for use within the school community.

BMD’s CEO Scott Power said the relocation was a crucial milestone that made it possible for BMD to progress with construction of its new head office.

“BMD has deep history in the Wynnum Manly community, with my father Mick Power AM living in the area since he was two, then founding and growing our business in the suburb since 1979,” Mr Power said.

“Engrained in the way we conduct ourselves as a business is our commitment to supporting locally in all that we do, and that’s exactly why we chose Wynnum for our headquarters and look forward to the future growth and opportunities this will provide the community.

“We are honoured to serve our community by saving and preserving this piece of Wynnum heritage at Iona College and seeing our local community get behind and support this monumental milestone in Wynnum’s history has been extremely rewarding,” Mr Power said.

Iona College’s Father Michael Twigg said the Church was relocated thanks to the generosity of BMD.

“The Church is now at home at Iona and will be restored to its former glory and brought back to life in service of the community,” Father Michael said.

“It marks an important part of our community history being kept alive here at Iona and we will be ensuring that it is lovingly brought back to life and to be enjoyed by the whole community for generations to come.

“The partnership between BMD and Iona is a long and personal one, and we give thanks to them for their commitment, vision and love of our local area. We feel blessed to be a part of this local area,” Father Michael said.

The move isn’t the first time the Church has been moved. In 1930, it was moved from its original home on Edith Street to Bay Terrace and in the early 2000s the Baptist congregation moved into new, modern facilities on Kianawah Road in Wynnum West, selling the Bay Terrace property to the BMD Group.

BMD will pay homage to the history of the site and the Church in its new head office build with architectural design elements and a volumetric experience of the church space as a reminder of the former use of the Bay Terrace location.

ENDS

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BMD has grown from a small family-owned company in Brisbane’s bayside to become Australia’s largest privately-owned civil contractor.

Since establishment in 1979, BMD has maintained its unique family-orientated culture and a philosophy of seeing things differently. What makes BMD different is its value system, unique culture and commitment to all staff. The business is truly about its people.

With a focus on long-term relationships and collaborative contracting, and through the support of its 1800 employees, BMD delivers infrastructure projects ranging in size from $1 million to more than $1 billion.