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Matakana Hall is looking decidedly spruce and sprightly these days, after a series of renovations and revamps carried out by the current hall committee.
New toilets, a new kitchen and a fresh coat of paint inside and out have given the 55-year-old community hall a new lease of life, and there are hopes to install solar panels next to enhance its usefulness during emergencies or natural disasters.
Committee member Trish Allen said they had applied for a grant from Meridian Energy’s decarbonisation fund.
“We’ve applied for funding to install solar panels on the roof and batteries, so when we have a power outage, we can use water, toilets, heat pumps and the oven, so we can open up as an emergency hub, though we’ll use it every day if we get it,” she said.
Unlike many community halls, the Matakana facility is not owned by Auckland Council, but by the community, via the Matakana Hall Incorporated Society. While this means the committee can keep hire fees affordable, it does mean they need to find the money for maintenance an improvements.
However, hall chairman Neville Johnson said generous support from sponsors, supporters and volunteers made their job a lot easier.
“We’ve had some wonderful sponsors, including Gay Smith from Gull, who gave us $10,000, David Ryan of Aalto Paints who’s provided all the paint for our upgrades, Beachcomber Lawns, who keep our grassed areas tidy, and the Matakana Community Garden group, which put in a second water tank,” he said.
“We’ll be having a sponsors dinner on October 4 to thank them all.”
The one major expense that requires hard cash is the annual $12,000 insurance bill, for which the committee has to fundraise every year.
“We do need to raise money for that, and we could use a few more members on the hall committee, if anyone would like to help,” Johnson said. “We meet on the first Monday of each month at 6pm, and everyone is welcome.”
As well as the main hall, which includes a stage, a fully equipped kitchen, toilets and storage, there is a smaller hall at the rear, which can seat around 40, and a secure outdoor area.
Current activities include dance classes, drama, floral art, table tennis, tai chi, pilates and creative writing, with a wide range of groups hiring the hall, from beekeepers to choirs.
The original Matakana Hall was built in 1876, though that burnt down 10 years later, as did its replacement in the 1950s, before the current hall was built by the community in 1959.
Info and bookings: visit https://www.matakanacommunitygroup.org/matakana-hall.html or email lizjsharek@gmail.com
