‘The Pavilion on the Park’ is managed by Eastleigh Youth Trust (registered charity 301806). A sub-committee of trustees, users and Borough Council representatives meets monthly to manage the day-to-day operation of the facility.
The Air Training Corps, The Army Cadets and the Red Cross occupy the completely independent two story section of the building to the west of the site.
The original youth and community building
in this area was opened by H.R.H. Princess Margaret on June 1st
1966. The £36,000 it cost to build was raised by Councillor Godfrey
Olson OBE and business colleagues. He launched the fund raising campaign
when Mayor in 1961/62. Staffed by Hampshire Youth Service, the Centre
was a success for many years, and lots of local people can remember many
happy evenings and week-ends taking part in activities based in the
building.
By the early nineties young people were attracted to a wider range of activities that could not be provided on one site, and this coincided with the Youth Service adopting an ‘outreach’ strategy without the resources to dedicate to one building. In 1993 the then committee had costed the building’s closure as it had fallen into disrepair with very little use.
At the publicly advertised ‘emergency meeting’ held to discuss the building’s future, representatives of ‘The Senators’ attended. The Senators have been one of the UKs most successful American Style Drum and Bugle Corps and at that time were urgently looking for a new base.
The Senators were accepted as new hirers of the building and saved it from closure. Over the next seven years supporters of the band raise over £100,000 to completely refurbish the Centre and open it up to a wider range of groups. However, as the century due to a close it was clear that the 40 year old building was not going to provide adequate facilities for the demands of the 21st century and negotiations began with Eastleigh Borough Council to replace the Centre.
On February 4th 2008, after 8 years of planning, consultation and negotiation, our new £2.5 building was compete and long-standing users moved into ‘The Pavilion on the Park’, 400 metres from the original site.