Pirongia School Kapa Haka performing for a crowd gathered at Pirongia Memorial Hall. Photo / Dean Taylor
Pirongia came out to take part in a full day of events to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Pirongia Memorial Hall on Saturday.
Several local organisations were in early to set up displays in the hall and from 10am, people were arriving to view the displays and mix and mingle before the official events.
That part of the day came when the official party arrived, either with Chris Empson in his 1923 Bentley or with Nick and Jill van der Sande by horse and buggy.
MC’s Alan Livingstone and Ray Cullen welcomed the official party and guests.
A Karakia and blessing by Nick Tautari was followed by a brief history of the Memorial Hall by Alan Hall, a personal introduction from new Waipā Mayor Susan O’Regan, and cutting of the anniversary cake by Ngaire Phillips, Heather Garrett and Nick Tautari representing various regions around Pirongia Village.
They also gave some personal memories of events at the hall over the years, including Nick remembering when Ngaire was his teacher at Pirongia School and the classes used the hall for plays and singing.
Hot on the heels of completing the book to tell the story of the Pirongia Boxing Day races, Pirongia historian Alan hall was presenting the summary of the Pirongia Memorial Hall.
This War Memorial Hall became 100 years old this year, on Tuesday, August 16. It was declared open on the afternoon of Wednesday, August 16, 1922, by Mr J.T. Johnson.
The hall was built as an initiative of the people of the Pirongia District who made donations, ran money-raising events and donated resources such as gravel for the concrete, without the assistance of external grants or subsidies.
Plans were drawn up in 1920 for a ferro-concrete building by Thomas McInnes, a Te Awamutu builder who had been involved there in the construction of the Teasdale Building and the Empire Theatre.
It was built by Closey Bros. of Ōtorohanga and painted and decorated by Meiklejohn & Sons of Kihikihi. Its total cost is estimated at £2000 ($4000).
The community erected the hall as both a memorial to men from the district whose lives had been sacrificed in World War I, and also as a replacement for the old timber Public Hall in Crozier Street which had opened in 1876, but no longer fulfilled the expectations of local people.
In his speech at the opening, Mr Johnson was explicit this war memorial “was not [simply] an obelisk of stone”, as were many other war memorials of that time, but it was what he called a “memorial of utility” for the use of the community.
Over the years, this “memorial of utility” has served its community well. It was used for the first time on the evening of the opening when a concert was held, followed by a dance which, we are told, continued “till the wee small hours of the morning”.
Since then, the hall has housed meetings, concerts, social functions, picture shows, dances run regularly by local clubs, concerts, wedding breakfasts, patriotic functions during World War II, indoor sports such as indoor bowls and badminton, school functions, and lunches provided as fundraising ventures by local institutions such as churches and clubs on the days when monthly livestock sales took place in the saleyards on the opposite side of Franklin St.
The building was maintained and upgraded by the community. Toilets and kitchen facilities were added, with the maintenance and many improvements funded by the Pirongia Domain Board, which, in some cases, funded the materials but expected members of the community to do a lot of the work.
After World War II, additional memorial plaques were dedicated to other local men whose lives were sacrificed in that conflict.
For some 70 years, this arrangement, under which the hall was used and maintained by the Domain Board and the community, continued until the 1990s when government legislation transferred the powers and assets of domain boards to other local government bodies. This meant that ownership of the War Memorial Hall became vested in the Waipā District Council, which also became responsible to the community for its maintenance.
It is worth remembering the contributions of local people such as Berwyn Stirling and Shirley Scott who acted as custodians of the building, resolutely doing so much to advocate for its continuing use and maintenance.
Although now the property of the council, this building is still Pirongia’s War Memorial, as evidenced each year, by impressive, locally run dawn Anzac Day observances.
However, the recent earthquake assessment revealed that work will be needed to conserve the building, and it is also clear that in the future some upgrading will be required to continue to make it truly fit for purpose in the changing world of its second century.
We need to think about how members of this community might complement the roles of the district council to ensure that this building continues to be used and fittingly honoured as our war memorial, whilst also meeting the changing needs of our community.
At this time, when we recall and celebrate this iconic building’s centennial, it is also important for us to look ahead at how it shall continue to serve the community and what we might do to help.
Daniel van der Hulst conducted a remembrance service on behalf of the RSA, with help from trumpeter Sam Taylor, readings from Pirongia pupils Sacha Mills and Tallulah Blair and a performance from Pirongia School Kapa Haka.
Former school principal Jan Cullen announced winners of the schools’ competitions run by Mt Pirongia Lions.
Senior essay winners were Liam Hodgson and Pippa Earwaker and the runner-up was Nathan Moore. Senior art winner, Peyton Marty; runner-up, Cam Bates; junior art winner, Toby Rothery.
Ruby Webb won the speech competition, which she presented, complete with period dress.
The memorial hall is now open! Reads the headlines of the 1922 15th of August edition of The Waipa Post.
Hi, I’m Ruby, and I would like to tell you about the history of the hall.
The history: The official opening day for the War Memorial Hall was on the 16th of August 1922. It was opened by Mr J.T Johnson with 2 main purposes – a war memorial and a community gathering space.
Let me tell you about the memorial gun’s history. The memorial gun was buried during the Second World War – for fear an aerial survey might mistake it for a military base.
In 1980, the gun was found by the Pirongia Lions using a metal detector, was dug up, restored and put on display for all to see.
Did you know that my Great Uncle Colin was the one on the metal detector who found the gun and helped dig it back up?
Some significant events which have happened at the hall during my lifetime:
The return of the Anzac dawn services which were restarted in 2017 by the Pirongia fire brigade, after many years with no services. They have been well attended by locals of all ages with refreshments provided by the Pirongia Lions in the hall.
One of the biggest events was the Neil and Liam Finn concert “Where’s my room?” national tour in January 2018 . The building was jam-packed to see the band’s performance and it was a night to never be forgotten.
The hall was closed in early 2019 due to a poor seismic assessment and was reopened in 2020 after a more detailed assessment was completed and deemed safe to use.
Here’s how I think the hall could be better utilised:
An online booking option that allows you to see when the hall is available would be a time-saving option that would keep the space used. 1-2 hour booking options would also be a good idea to increase use.
A division curtain might be a good idea to make the space smaller to create a room for two groups to be in the hall at once.
In conclusion, I agree with Mr J.T. Johnson that the hall should symbolise the memorial to our Anzacs and a place for community gatherings.
The formalities were concluded, but the celebrations continued with displays remaining open and food and drink available on the lawn for a family picnic afternoon, complete with musical entertainment.
This summer will be critical to discover if the sharks have started returning.