Town Hall reprieved

At the April meeting of the South Wairarapa District Council the motion:
That strengthening and refurbishment of the Martinborough Town Hall be undertaken based on affordability, and that Council would commit to the cost of strengthening it in the LTP 2012/22 and that further discussion with the community is undertaken to determine refurbishment needs and requirements
Was moved by Councillor Max Stevens and seconded by Mayor Adrianne Staples. The motion was passed unanimously.

The Hall is saved . . Long live the Hall

In recent times I have come to recognise the Hall’s great value to Martinborough and to the whole community. Of course, it is only as valuable as it is used and everyone knows it’s not used nearly enough. Why? Because overall it’s not a handsome building: it stands forlorn, off to one side and – for so many reasons – tends to be neglected.
Yet even in it’s present sad state it hosts successful and profitable events : just wait for the Centennial year MADCAPS (August 15 – 18) and Jazz in Martinborough (Aug 30/31 – Sep 1 – 2). That’s maybe 7 full halls, equivalent to 1 successful event per month for 6 or 7 months!
Well, now the Council intends to strengthen it (up to 100% of the current code) and make good – around $1.4 – and then, with full community involvement, greatly improve it inside and out – around another $1.4m.
A vital part of this improvement is to landscape/streetscape the area to link the place to the Square, so the Hall can play its full part as a majestic building in the centre of town. There is a lot to do, costing a lot of money – and it will take several years, but we can now be sure the Council and the community will do it, working together. Onwards!

Ian Cresswell

A great outcome

Town Hall committee member Winifred Bull commented:
On the matter of the Council decision regarding the Hall – YES! Ian Cresswell, Jim Clark and I were the only three community members on the Town Hall Committee to stay the somewhat protracted and fraught distance of nearly 3 years to see through the process of obtaining a decision on the matter.
A significant part of our resolve to keep going was the support shown by several community organisations and individuals who donated funds to upgrade the Hall kitchen. Needless to say we were/are delighted with the outcome.
Ian Cresswell is also extremely pleased:
I attended the meeting and I can tell you that the motion was passed unanimously which was especially gratifying
The actual wording is a bit cautious, but it’s clear the building is to stay. That means its centennial can be observed and, with only 5 months to the foundation stone date of 17 September, planning needs to get underway. I reckon a good first move would be for the Council to call for expressions of interest by citizens of Martinborough Ward to be members of a Centennial Committee.

Madcaps pleased

MADCAPS are very pleased with the Council’s unanimous decision to investigate strengthening and renovating the town hall.
MADCAPS (Martinborough and Districts Company of Amateur Players) held their first production in the town hall 26 years ago and this year will once again stage a show from 15 – 18th August. So look out for this as the show will be celebrating 100 years of the Martinborough Town Hall with music and skits from 1912 to the present day, always a lot of fun and the best entertainment in the town.
The Martinborough town hall is one of a few halls left standing in New Zealand of that type and size of building, and not because they all fell down in earthquakes, but most likely have been neglected to the stage where they became not worth repairing.
Luckily our hall is far from that state and further to that the recent engineers’ reports have found the brick work (excluding the back rooms beyond the stage) to be in exceptionally good condition and well built. The sloping stage, large auditorium and grid above the stage for flying scenery make our hall ideal for staging shows and holding concerts.
We look forward to the renovations which when done will give us all a space to use for shows, concerts, weddings, parties and meetings unlike any other in the Wairarapa and preserve the heritage of the town.
Jim Clark