Pirongia War Memorial Hall set to re-open
Pirongia War Memorial Hall on Franklin Street is set to re-open at the end of November following a recent detailed seismic assessment.
The hall was temporarily closed by Council last year for public safety after an earlier assessment found it did not meet minimum safety standards brought in by the Building (Earthquake-prone Buildings) Amendment Act 2016.
The initial report rated the Pirongia Memorial Hall’s seismic resistance capacity at 15 per cent of National Building Standards (NBS) and recommended a detailed seismic assessment.
Buildings are considered earthquake-prone if their seismic resistance capacity is calculated as less than 34 per cent of NBS.
The subsequent detailed seismic assessment reported the hall’s seismic resistance capacity rating at 50 per cent.
It included site measurements, inspections, a review of the building records and x-ray spot scanning which uncovered additional structural framing within the building. This discovery, amongst others, lifted the original rating from 15 to 50 per cent.
Waipa District Council business support group manager Ken Morris says the decision to temporarily close the hall last year was made with the best information available.
“In 2018, we made the decision to close the hall for the safety of our residents based on the best available information from the original seismic assessment. We are very pleased with the results of the detailed seismic assessment which allows us to re-open.
“We know our community will be thrilled with the news as they will once again have an appropriate space for activities and to celebrate their war heroes.”
Any future enhancements of the hall will be subject to the Pirongia Town Concept Plan Refresh. This draft plan is anticipated to be prepared by April 2020 following consultation with the community. It will then feed into Annual Plan and Long Term Plan processes.
Pirongia Memorial Hall was originally opened on 16 August 1922 as a tribute to the district’s men who had given their lives for the war efforts.
It was later rededicated as a war memorial in 1946 where the names of an additional 13 men who lost their lives in the Second World War were added.
A display board with the military records of 48 men from the district who died during the First World War was installed in 2016.