The Valley Baptist Community Centre and its two neighbouring properties in North Rd and Calder Ave have been put up for sale by tender which closes on May 28.
Baptist Churches of New Zealand stopped using the premises when its North Dunedin congregation dissolved in August 2021 and had no further plans for the space.
However, it let the Valley Baptist Community Trust, which had separated from the church, continue to hire it to more than 60 community groups until earlier this year when it was put up for sale.
Trust member James Sutherland felt it was not given enough time to plan a purchase of the property and had to make a last-minute effort to come up with funds.
It was working with the The Valley Project and Valley Community Workspace to raise as much as possible to make a competitive offer on the property without taking on a hefty bank loan.
The community organisations presently had about $250,000.
Mr Sutherland said it was "gut-wrenching" to potentially lose the space.
He said it would be a huge loss for North Dunedin.
"You would hope to think that there would be good faith.
"It was donated for community use in about 1883 and it remained that way for over 150 years until now."
It was hard for the Baptist Church, which was based in Auckland, to understand the space was a part of the community’s fabric.
Users of the space included a community-run early childhood education centre, dance and karate lessons and a playgroup for small children.
"The hall is literally booked out every single night by dance groups or karate because of the wooden floors.
"We had our community dinner here recently and 150 people showed up," Mr Sutherland said.
Baptist Churches communications director Mike Crudge said it had a long history with the trust and it had been a good tenant.
He said over the past few years the church and the trust had a number of transparent conversations about the future of the property and the possibility of its sale.
The sale was decided on by the Otago and Southland Baptist Association, which is comprised of 13 member Baptist churches in the regions, in October 2024.
Those who wished to help the trust’s effort could donate, give a loan as a social enterprise investment, or "buy a brick" to help with future renovations in the building.
The trust was open to hearing other ideas from the community to help save the centre as well.
