Islamic Centre fills to capacity on Friday
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 04/08/2018 (2851 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
The City of Brandon is still working with the Brandon Islamic Centre to find a larger space for the organization to accommodate its growing needs and numbers.
“Their officials and myself exchanged emails this week, and we’re going to continue to work on it,” Mayor Rick Chrest confirmed on Friday.
Members of the Brandon Islamic Centre spoke at the July 16 city council meeting to request that city council offer a city-owned parcel of land to the organization that is a minimum of three acres in size.
In 2016, a surge of Syrian refugees to Canada resulted in at least 14 families coming to the Brandon area, said Muhammad Abidullah, treasurer with the Brandon Islamic Centre.
“What happened is this place overnight became insufficient for us,” Abidullah said.
That’s why he said it’s important for them to find a larger space in Brandon to relocate, so they can continue to be an important resource for immigrants and refugees in need.
“English language is a major issue for the Syrians coming in here, and we try to help them with say religious, social and moral support,” he said.
The centre’s capacity is 150 people, and there were at least that many at the mosque on Friday for afternoon prayer. The parking lot filled up, the hallway was covered in shoes of all sizes and it became hot and sticky inside.
“The community is growing and all of a sudden this building became insufficient for us,” Abidullah said.
The group hopes the city can help them find a larger piece of land to use as a place of worship and as a community centre.
Chrest said that the city probably won’t have the type of location the Brandon Islamic Centre would require, but that administration will provide assistance in other ways.
“We’ll be helping to connect with the developers and property owners and see what might be available that suits their needs,” he said.
The goal for a future space is to be between three to four acres in size, Abidullah said. The hope is that the new location would have a soccer field and possibly tennis courts that would also be available for public use.
The Brandon Islamic Centre is important because it helps attract people to Brandon, Chrest said.
“We’ve seen quite a few medical professionals, professionals that work at Brandon University, several engineers, so on and so forth,” he said.
“So, from a recruitment standpoint, the Brandon Islamic Centre has played a really important part in helping to recruit people [to the city].”
» mverge@brandonsun.com
» Twitter: @Melverge5