New home for Wairakei hall

Wairakei Primary School will take over ownership of the Wairakei Hall which will be moved onto the schools grounds.


The TKMP (Taupo-Kaingaroa/Mangakino-Pouakani) Committee approved the sale of the hall at a cost of $1 to Wairakei School and will also provide funds to cover the cost of relocating the building from Council reserve to the school grounds.



TKMP Chairperson, Kathryn Uvhagen says “Wairakei Primary is the major user of the hall so it makes sense to move it to onto the school grounds for ease of access and security reasons. This is a solid old building and as long as it is kept in a good state of repair it will see many more years of use by the school and the wider community.” Mrs Uvhagen says the transfer of ownership will include a proviso that the community can continue to access the building on the current terms.



Mayor Rick Cooper said he had been out to inspect the building recently and fully supports the transfer. He said in its current location on council reserve, the hall is in real danger of being damaged. “It would be a shame to loose this asset to neglect and vandalism,” he said.



Ms Gaye Vartiainen, Principal Wairakei School and Mr Paul Wilson Chairman of the Wairakei School’s Board of Governors, were present at the council meeting and told Councillors that they were keen to take over ownership of the hall but it was essential to relocate it to school grounds for security reasons and to allow access to external funding.



“The Ministry of Education has money available for the refurbishment of the Hall that the school can apply for if it is our asset, we can also approach other benefactors to help out,” said Ms Vartiainen.



TKMP approved $115,000 to be used to relocate the hall. This included $90,000 of budgeted funds that had previously been earmarked for upgrading the toilets in the hall, and an additional $25,000 unbudgeted funds.