NATIONAL MEMORIAL

Waikato Times, Volume 195, Issue 22460, 22 September 1944, Page 4

NATIONAL MEMORIAL

NEW CHURCH AT MATAKOHE . WELLINGTON, Friday “After consultation with Mrs Coates and relatives and the people ef the Matakohe district, the Government has decided to erect a rational memorial at Matakohe to the memory of the late Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates,” safe! the Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. P. Fraser, today. The memorial would take the form of an inter-denominational church to be erected in the Matakone cemetery grounds. It would replace the existing church, which had served the community for 60 or 70 years and was the scene of the funeral ceremony.

Mr Fraser said the memorial, designed by Mr H. L. Massey, had been simply designed to meet its character as an interdenominational church and had the characteristics of the English village church type. A memorial tablet was to be set on the wall of the porch. It was intended to build the church in brick. The seat•iiig accommodation would be for 100 worshippers. “The site is a prominent one.” said Mr Fraser, “and the church will be a feature of the landscape, visible for miles. The whole of the existing cemetery and unoccupied portion ol the cemetery reserve will be replanned and laid out in keeping with the new church, the approach to which will be through a memorial gateway.

“The design submitted by Mr Massey is a beautiful one and will be a fitting memorial to one whose services to New Zealand, in peace and war, will ever be remembered,” concluded the Prime Minister. “It is hoped to have the building finished in time for its dedication and opening on the second anniversary of Mr Coates’ death.”