2.04pm: Power has been eliminated as a cause of the fire that destroyed the old Papamoa Hall last night.
Tauranga fire investigator Bill Rackham said a cause had not yet been found.
"I'm working with police and we're treating it as suspicious. Due to the extent of the damage and what we're up against we have quite a complex fire investigation to complete.
"We've eliminated power as a possible cause because the power had been cut off to the hall for some time. There were indications the doors to the back of the building were open."
Police were still appealing for information from anyone who was in the area about 2pm.
EARLIER: Tauranga police investigating the fire which destroyed the former Papamoa community hall last night have called for help to find a suspicious vehicle that might have been involved.
Police are treating the fire as suspicious because the building had been empty for several years, before it went up in flames last night. Read more about the blaze here.
Police are now appealing for sightings of a vehicle parked at the building on State Highway 2, between Bell Rd and Welcome Bay Rd, shortly before the fire started about 6.10pm.
Police described the car as as an old style vehicle with 4 doors and a sloping back.
Shortly before the fire was reported a vehicle of similar description pulled out of the hall's parking area onto SH2 causing another driver to take evasive action. The vehicle headed towards Tauranga.
If you have any information which might assist this investigation please contact at Tauranga police station on 07 577 4300. You can also provide information anonymously to the organisation Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Western Bay of Plenty District Council staff have secured the site.
Council group manager engineering services Gary Allis said at this stage it was too early to elaborate on the future of the site.
"The hall had not been used by the community for some time and the hall society had ceased.
"It's against this background that Council was in the process of working through a resource consent process for selling the property."
PHOTO/RICHARD MOORE
The Papamoa Hall was insured for an indemnity value of $259,000.
Council records show the land for the hall was gifted by the McNaughton Family to the Tauranga County Council in 1930 to be held in Trust for the purposes of a Public Hall.
The hall was relocated to the site in the 1930s and since that time the hall committee made further additions and upgrades to the building.
