Plans to replace the ‘dilapidated’ and at-risk community center have been revealed

The ‘dilapidated’ Charlemont Community Center in West Bromwich is to be replaced by a new building occupied and run by the Sandwell African Caribbean Mental Health Foundation.

The planning application to Sandwell Council says the community center is “beyond the end of its economic life” and is at risk of closing for good.

“The community center has fallen into disrepair and is now at risk of being lost to the community through removal by the council,” the application states.

The community center in Beaconview Road, West Bromwich, dates back to the 1960s when the surrounding Charlemont Farm estate was being built – one of the largest housing developments in the area at the time.

Reports included in the application say the community center has received “insufficient” investment over the years, leading to its current state. It would be “difficult and expensive” to bring the building up to modern standards, the application says, and it would be easier to demolish and build a new community centre.

The building’s old heating system was condemned because it was full of asbestos. The new community center would be built to keep operating costs low.

The application said: “The existing building was constructed using experimental construction techniques which included lightweight timber sections to form a timber frame.

“At the time a 50-year lifespan was calculated, which explains the poor condition of the current building. The original timber-clad building has been retrofitted with non-combustible materials in recent years following arson attempts.

While the interior of the existing center has been renovated and kept up to date, the exterior is in a dilapidated state and past the end of its economic life.

“The existing heating system is also extremely inefficient.”

The community center has suffered from years of underfunding. A campaign was launched in 2021 to save the building from demolition after it was included in the now-abandoned Black Country Plan – a housing planning and building plan that would have set out where 76,000 homes would be built in the region .

The joint plan between Black Country councils was scrapped at the last minute after Dudley Council pulled out of the deal in protest at the inclusion of part of the borough’s green belt in future house building plans.

The already troubled community centre, which also houses the Dynamic Kids children’s club, has faced additional and unnecessary pressure in recent years due to a barrier blocking the potholed car park from the estate’s main roads.