Restored Te Arawa Soldiers' Memorial unveiled during dawn ceremony

People gather at the restored Te Arawa Soldiers' Memorial this morning. Photo / Andrew Warner

A sombre dawn service was the setting for the unveiling of the restored Te Arawa Soldiers' Memorial today.

More than 250 people gathered to mark the occasion at the memorial site in the Government Gardens, 92 years to the day after the original memorial was erected to commemorate Te Arawa men who fought and were killed in World War I.

The service included a blessing of the site, notably the statue of Te Arawa ancestor Rangitihi, which was badly damaged and removed from the memorial in 1936.

Rev Tom Poata speaks at the ceremony. Photo / Andrew Warner

Pita Anaru, a veteran of the Malayan Emergency of the 1950s, unveiled the statue ofRangitihi and described the ceremony as a sombre experience.

"You really have to go and view it to see how moving and outstanding the memorial is now that it has been restored."

Anaru's uncle was a soldier who was killed on duty and his name features on the cenotaph.

"God is the only one who knows where he is now."

The restoration project included several phases, the first being repair and conservation of the stonework on the memorial.

Master stone conservator Marco Bürger spent several months in late 2016 carefully working on the memorial. Photo / Andrew Warner

Master stone conservator Marco Bürger spent several months in late 2016 carefully working on the memorial.

The project was commissioned by the Rotorua World War I Committee in 2016 after receiving funding from the Lotteries World War I Commemorations, Environment and Heritage Fund, New Zealand Community Trust, the Rotorua Energy Charitable Trust and New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute.