ALTERATIONS TO DRILL HALL

Southland Times, Issue 23948, 14 October 1939, Page 6

ALTERATIONS TO DRILL HALL

ACCOMMODATION FOR TERRITORIALS LECTURE ROOM, SHOWERS . AND BUFFETS The sum of £725 is to be spent by the Defence Department on improvements to the Drill Hall at Invercargill, so that serving territorials will have more comfortable accommodation. It is the intention of the department to provide a men’s institute, two buffets, one for the officers and one for the men, showers, a lecture room for non-commissioned officers, and other improvements. The altera lons will be mainly to the front part of the hall, on the left-hand side of the entrance, and the new rooms will be floored and lined, and brought up to date. The south wall is also to be lined and some of the old skylights which leaked in wet weather are to be removed.

The work, which is being done by the Public Works Department, has already begun, and in conjunction with this the Public Works Department is also improving the approaches to the hall. The road from Dee street to the railway crossing has already been tarsealed, and the sealing is to. be continued from that point to the main entrance of the hall. The road has been drained and regraded, and as soon as it has set the tar-sealing work will begin. The land which is occupied by the Drill Hall was given to the Defence Department by the Southland Agricultural and Pastoral Association in 1913 on condition that the department gave the association floor space for shows when required. Formal permission to make the alterations, which would involve a slight decrease in the floor space in the annexe, was given by the directors of the association at their meeting yesterday afternoon, when the Defence Department’s plans were outlined by Dr A. F. Ritchie Crawford.