NEW DRILL HALL

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20492, 28 February 1941, Page 4

NEW DRILL HALL

PLANS FOR GISBORNE AFTER WAIOURU JOB PROMISE TO MAYOR MINISTER OF DEFENCE After waiting for 10 years, a new drill hall is to be built in Gisborne on the site of the one destroyed by fire in February, 1931. A promise that this proposal will receive immediate attention afar the Waiouru camp work is comple.cd has been conveyed to the Mayor, Mr. D. W. Coleman, M.P., in a letter received from the Minister of Defence, the Hon. F. Jones.

The letter was read at last night’s meeting of the Gisborne Borough Council, and was received with gratified comment by the councillors. The communicalron was written in response to inquiries with regard to the provision of a new drill hail here. “On August 9, 1940,’’ the Minister’s letter, stated, “the Public Works Department was asked to prepare plans and estimates for a drill hall in Gisborne, and rough plans of the building and site were forwarded to the permanent head of the Public Works Department on November 6 with a request for an estimate of the cost. “Since then the Public Works Department has been communicated with,’ asking that the plans and estimates be expedited, and on February 6 a letter was received from the Engineer-in-Chief stating that owing to a shortage of staff and prior considerations of urgent defence work at Waiouru, the question of providing plans and estimates for the Gisborne drill hall has had to be passed over for the time being. “It is further stated that on the completion of the Waiouru job, the work would be put in hand immediately. “You may rest assured that as soon as plans and estimates are received from the Public Works Department, the matter will receive early consideration.”