QUEENSTOWN WAR MEMORIAL

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28672, 23 August 1958, Page 4

QUEENSTOWN WAR MEMORIAL

£35,000 Hall And Pavilion

"The Press” Special Service DUNEDIN, August 22. Work is proceeding on the construction of the £35,000 Queenstown war memorial hall and pavilion at the recreation ground. Able to cater for all types of entertainment, the hair will be so built to allow for a seating capacity of 600 when required. The building will comprise the main hall,~a foyer, confectionery stall and shop. The roomy stage to be provided will measure up, for instance, to the standard required by the New Zealand Players’ Company when on tour, and there will also be complete dressing room facilities. Thus Queenstown residents and tourists, too, for the first time will be able to attend plays performed by professionals without venturing out of town. Originally it was intended to build a grandstand on the ground, but it is now proposed to incorporate a concrete terraced stand with the hall and this will seat a few hundred or so spectators. In addition to the stand, changing rooms with showers for both men and women, will be provided. The hall will be constructed in concrete, with facia in the natural stonework of the district. Although it will be larger than required for the town’s normal requirements, the spaciousness has been planned purposely so that there will be sufficient room for the many tourists who visit Queenstown. Heating Provisions

Good heating is essential for a public building in Queenstown, and the hall will be provided with a new system of radiation heating, making usq of infrared ray elements.

The heaters will be placed in three rows in the main auditorium and the system will ensure that people in the hall will be warmed, although the air temperature inside will not be affected. Thus the hall will be warm, but not stuffy. The contract was signed for a figure of about £35,000, but the estimated completed cost—including chairs, floor coverings and furniture—is just over £40,000. Of this amount £4500 was raised by donations—qualifying for the Government’s £ for £ subsidy scheme—and a £30,000 loan raised by the Queenstown Borough Council has been approved by the Local Authorities’ Loans Board.

On one side of the new building the R.S.A. will construct a smaller hall for itself, and the association is raising its own finance for this project. Garden plots will be laid out around the memorial hall to add a touch of beauty to the landscape.

Work on the project began shortly after last Easter, and because there has not been as much frost in the district as usual, work was not interrupted for as long a period as was thought likely. The guaranteed completion date of the building is Easter of next year.