'A NEW HEART FOR NELSON’

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31976, 1 May 1969, Page 12

'A NEW HEART FOR NELSON’

Nelson people are aiming to build a multi-purpose hall which they are calling “A New Heart For Nelson.” This hall is expected to serve as a national convention centre and as a place for local and national indoor sporting events.

Scenic runs are commonplace for the motorist in Nelson; the province is laced with roads which go through, or give views of, magnificent stands of native bush and exotic forests. Nelson has tremendous natural beauty and a climate to match, but it has neither a town hall nor a community centre. The estimated cost of Trafalgar Centre is $300,000.

The Nelson City Council will contribute $120,000; the Government is expected to find, by way of subsidy, about $30,000 (as a grant from lottery funds), and a public appeal is expected to raise $150,000. The centre will provide the means for such events as horticultural shows, anniversary dinners, reunions, conferences, trade fairs, and every kind of indoor sport. It has been found that some notable national and

international fixtures have had to by-pass Nelson because of lack of facilities. The building of a national convention centre will carry the need for more hotel accommodation and Nelson is getting ready for this. The Goldaire International Hotel at Tahuna Beach will have initial accommodation for more than 60; the Travelodge group intends to build an 80-bed hotel in Trafalgar Street North; and there are expectations of a third and

even a fourth group putting up medium-class accommodation in Nelson City. Plans for Trafalgar Centre have been going ahead since 1962. After a change of projected site, it will now be across the river from Trafalgar Park, opposite the Auckland Point School. The centre will comprise a very large main hall, five meeting rooms, a banquet hall, three changing rooms with showers and lavatories, store rooms, a kitchen, a shop, office and

ticket box, and permanent elevated seating. There will be an entrance hall and porch. The whole complex will be of one storey, but there will be a gallery in the main hall.