Community Centre Hall For Hornby

Press, Volume C, Issue 29625, 22 September 1961, Page 14

Community Centre Hall For Hornby

A community centre sports hall will be built in Wycola Park. Its value will be about £13,000. This was decided at a meeting of Hornby residents on Wednesday evening. The meeting was called by the Riccarton Rotary Club which has planned the hall and given money towards its erection. Members of the Paparua County Council and the Hornby County Town Committee were at the meeting. Both bodies have given their approval of the plan in principle and the council has given £6500 towards it.

The proposed hall will be next to the kindergarten and children’s library in Wycola Park. It will have a floor area of about 8500 sq. ft The building design provides for steel portal frames, concrete block outer walls, a galvanised iron roof, a wooden floor and lean-to annexes on either side for extra floor space, supper and storage rooms.

The architect is Mr D. E. Donnithorne who has drawn up the plans and will supervise the work free of charge. Messrs Schmidli and Psenniger, engineers, have also offered their services free.

About 40 persons attended the meeting at which the president of the Riccarton Rotary Club (Mr C. Ellis) presided. Plans of the building were pinned on the walls. The chairman of the hall project committee of the Riccarton Rotary Club (Mr M. L. Taylor) explained the work done by the club and said that although the estimated value of the building was £13,000, saving in the cost of materials and labour given by firms would bring the cost to about £7OOO.

Crown Crystal Glass, Ltd., Hornby, was associated with the Riccarton Rotary Club in the project, Mr Taylor said. The club had given £5OO towards the new hall and would undertake voluntary labour to an estimated value of £558, Mr Taylor said. The value of special discounts estimated to be obtainable through elub members was £2120; the saving in the cost of erection by Crown Crystal Glass, Ltd., was £3322; and the maximum financial responsibility of the Paparua County Council was £6500. The completed building would be the property of the council which would be responsible for its upkeep. Although the project committee had estimated that the hall could be built for about £7OOO of which £6500 would come from the Paparua County Council and £5OO from the club, it was felt that it would be advisable to allow for reasonable contingencies and to raise another £lOOO, Mr Taylor said. This would be done in four ways: Extras would be raised by the Riccarton Rotary Club; an approach would be made to Hornby business firms; funds could be raised by Hei Hei citizens; and additional discounts were expected on materials. The chairman of the Hornby County Town Committee (Mr R. J. Roberts) thanked the Riccarton Rotary Club for its interest and help. He said that the £6500 given was from money put aside for amenities in Hornby. The chairman of the Hornby Residents’ Association (Mr P. W. Andrew) also thanked the club.

In reply to a question from Mr Taylor, Mr Roberts said that the hall would be for all the citizens of Hornby, on both sides of the railway line. Members of the committee which was elected, are: Mesdames J. W. de Stigter. O. Hancox, Messrs F. L. Lewis, A. W. Read, T. B Whelan. A. S. Coleman. H. R. Kibblewhite, L. Griffiths. D Wiltshire, P W. Andrew (convener).