Taihape Town Hall/Civic Centre Update

The building has been closed to the public since 2021 as it was identified as an earthquake-prone building, posing significant risk to life in the event of an earthquake.

It’s hosted a number of events over the years from concerts and theatre productions, to sports and recreation, to important community meetings and business events, and everything else in between.

It also houses the Taihape Library, Information Centre and Rangitīkei District Council Offices.

Why does the building need strengthening?
Central Government introduced the national earthquake-prone building system in 2017. The system is designed to ensure that buildings meet minimum earthquake standards following information that was gained after the Canterbury and Christchurch earthquakes in 2010 and 2011.

Where are we at now?
Whilst the Town Hall/Civic Centre is not classified as a heritage building, the feedback we’ve had from the community is that they would like this building to be opened again.

This does pose some challenges for Council. Building and supply costs have more than tripled in the past few years and are still continuing to rise. There is an option to demolish the building and build a new facility, but all indication from the users is that they want to retain the building's iconic exterior façade which is a huge part of the town's identity.

As part of the Annual Plan 2023-24, Council has approved a total budget of $14 million for the strengthening and redevelopment of the building, which includes compliance with all building code standards (fire safety, accessibility and current building code).

Council then asked for staff to get feedback from the users of the Town Hall/Civic Centre about what it is that they use the facility for, what they could see it being used for in the future, and anything else they think that Council should consider when undertaking this project.

So far, we’ve received lots of feedback from people who care about the Town Hall/Civic Centre. Some of it is conflicting, which makes it difficult for council to determine what the scope of the project should be.

Council held a workshop with users and interested people on Tuesday, 3 October to get a better idea of what people were wanting, and if it was realistic to achieve within the agreed budget.

This workshop was well attended and many shared their thoughts and ideas about what they would like to see happening to the building, and what it could be used for in the future that would be beneficial to the community.

What happens next?
Council staff together with the consultant that facilitated the workshop are collating the feedback from the workshop and a report will be produced. Based on the findings of the report, annual plan submissions and other feedback received from individual groups, staff will then identify and form a user group ensuring every possible purpose group (e.g. Events, Meetings, Youth, Iwi, Music, Drama, Ballet, Learning etc) is equally represented. We thank everyone who attended the workshop and that has shared feedback with staff.

This user group will be the community user representation for feedback through the project planning and implementation stages.

What are the timeframes for opening the building?
We’re still in the planning stages of this projects and so we can’t give a date as to when the building may be open again. However, we will keep residents informed as the project progresses.

The end goal
We want to provide Taihape with a multi-purpose and fit for purpose facility that they can be proud of, that will meet the needs of the community not just for now, but well into the future as well.

It might seem like slow going, but it’s important that we take our time and get it right. Find out more about this project.