New community centre

Press, 18 March 1986, Page 24

New community centre

A new $600,000 community centre is nearing completion in Fairlie. Formerly, residents of the town used the old Aorangi

Hall for their social activities. Originally the hall had been used as a stable for coaches leaving for Mt Cook. Built 120 years ago it was subsequently demolished to make way for the new community centre which has become Fairlie’s centennial community project. An enormous amount of voluntary labour has gone into the building under the supervision of Mr Maurice Wood.

Much of the money for the building has been raised locally but local people also hope to receive a grant from the Southern Regional Arts Council.

When completed the centre will benefit the

whole Mackenzie County.

It will cater for indoor basketball, bowling, rifle shooting, and will also be the venue for films and theatre performances.

In front of the new community centre, the new Mackenzie County Council chambers are also being built.

One of the main fundraising projects for the new community centre was the publication of a book called “Mackenzie Muster.” A total of 8000 books was printed and of these only 400 remain unsold. Another print of 2000 will soon be made and by the time all of the books are sold, they will have provided $40,000 towards the community centre.

Jenny Rayne, Margaret Door, Wendy Weir and Bev Garrow provided much of the material in the book, gathering recipes, poems and drawings from all over the country. Among those who provided illustrations were Ken Andrews, Shirley O’Connor and the late Esther Hope.