Te Rahu Hall
Te Rahu Hall has seen a bit of an upgrade as community grants help bring the nearly 100-year-old building back to life.
Committee member Robyn Atherton said grants they received enabled funded some real improvements to the hall and spruced up the 94-year-old building.
The hall, on Sh3 between Te Awamutu and Ōhaupō is used extensively by residents and a large number of groups which bring tennis, table tennis, indoor bowls, old- time dancing, rock and roll dancing and Country and Western music.
The hall is also available to individuals to use for family functions, and it is booked frequently.
“One of the largest groups using the hall is the Country and Western music group and when we were asked to make the hall more accessible to older and less able people, we successfully applied for a grant from Trust Waikato to assist us to built this,” Robyn said.
“The heating in the hall was also very outdated and some of the heaters had ceased to function. They were also very slow to warm the old wooden building, so we decided to replace them.”
The committee applied for Grants from the Lotteries Grants Board and the Waipā District Council Discretionary Fund to help fund the heaters.
“We then looked at the outside of the hall which although painted not so long ago, was starting to show wear and tear,” she said.
“Owing to the success of the grant applications, we had enough money to replace rotting boards and give the old building a facelift with new paint along with the parking area also being resurfaced so the hall is looking particularly smart.”
She said the renovation work also received support from Waipā businesses including Handee McKinley and JL Connolly.
