A BAND of volunteers has taken just under a year to build a new Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom Hall in Ballarat.The Howitt Street building is the second Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom Hall to be built in Ballarat in recent years, with the first constructed in Grant Street, Sebastopol.Site work began on the Howitt Street hall in May last year. Jehovah’s Witness elder David Harding said that over the next six months, a group of volunteers undertook the large construction project.“Works on the site began in May last year. Over the following six months, the underground services, car park base and concrete slab were laid. Then over three consecutive weekends, from November 26, the project was taken to about 98 per cent complete,” Mr Harding said.“The first of those weekends saw about 350 volunteer Jehovah’s Witness from across Victoria converge on the site to take the building to lock-up stage in some very wet weather. Over the second weekend, another 250 volunteers worked to fit out the building, including setting carpets and the bulk of the landscaping. On the third weekend, a team of volunteers upholstered and assembled more than 200 chairs.”Since then, Mr Harding said volunteers from the three local congregations have steadily been putting together or installing the finishing touches to the Howitt Street building. Last week the congregation received the final certificate of occupancy.The 500 square metre Kingdom Hall, which is situated on more than 4000 square metres of land, has a seating capacity of 180. The grounds also include 71 car park spaces.