Yaldhurst Memorial Hall may be given away for $1

Monday, 22 January 2024

Yaldhurst memorial hall, pictured some years ago. The windows are now boarded up.

A dilapidated community hall in need of crucial earthquake strengthening may be given away ‘as is where is’ to a residents’ association for $1.

But before that happens, Christchurch City Council staff want the Yaldhurst Rural Residents’ Association — who have fought the hall’s demolition at every opportunity — to accept just how big the job is.

The Yaldhurst Memorial Hall, found on the intersection of Pound Rd, West Coast Rd and State Highway 73, is owned by the council and has been closed since the 2011 Canterbury earthquakes.

The 70-year-old hall and war memorial need at least $2.2 million (plus GST) worth of earthquake strengthening and repair work to reach the council’s preferred safety standards.

The council isn’t fixing it because staff don’t believe the cost can be justified. Staff recommended demolishing it in 2017, but the council has delayed the decision for years to allow the residents’ association multiple opportunities to provide a sustainable business case for keeping it alive.

The memorial hall - which contains the list of locals who served in WWI and WWII - was used up until it closed in 2011, after the Canterbury earthquakes.

The association wants to take it over and do the repair work itself, estimating it would only cost $557,000 to get it to the council’s preferred safety standards - something disputed by council staff and independent engineer reports.

According to a report to be considered at the Wednesday full council meeting, staff remain unconvinced by the association’s ability to source the funding necessary to manage the work required.

However, as the hall has interim heritage protection (council is currently considering adding it to its schedule of heritage items), staff think there is some merit in letting the committed group try.

Councillors are therefore being asked to support a recommendation on Wednesday to gift the hall to the group for $1, as long as it goes to the public through the long term plan.

Staff say the hall could be gifted to the association on the condition it agrees that the council won’t pay for any of the repairs, necessary consents, or operation and ongoing maintenance costs once the hall was up and running.

It also has to get the building up to standard within five years of the title transfer, and if it failed, the council gets first right of refusal to take the building back.

Councillors could also decide on Wednesday to do nothing, fix it themselves or demolish the hall after all.

Council staff aren’t convinced of the association’s funding strategy because the association expects to cover much of the cost through donated labour and materials.

According to a 2022 letter to the council, the association believe once the hall is in their hands, the funds required would follow through donations and grant applications. However, they were concerned ongoing delays had “thwarted momentum and increased scepticism”.

At the time of writing the letter, the association said $25,000 in donations had been pledged and there was about $21,000 held in existing trusts and accounts for the hall.

According to the report to the council, in order for the association to get ownership of the hall, staff want them to acknowledge that the work ahead of them is much greater than they are budgeting for.

The memorial hall was built in 1954. Although it was a community-led project - with land being donated by a local family - it had to be owned by the local council as per the rules of the subsidy.

The hall contains the rolls of honour for those from the area who served in WWI and WWII, and was a cherished facility for social gatherings until its closure.