Plans for a new stage and an upgraded hall in Coromandel Town

Plans for the Barry Brickell Memorial Performance Stage proposed for Hauraki Reserve are well underway as is an upgrade to the Coromandel Citizens Hall.

The stage and surrounds would be a tribute to the Coromandel potter, railway builder, conservationist and author who passed away in January 2016.

The Coromandel-Colville Community Board has funded the consultation, design and planning requirements to the consenting stage.

The Community Board has also allocated budget in this financial year for construction, though external funding may also be required.

The memorial stage is a collaboration between the Community Board and the community, with the community partner at this stage being the Driving Creek Railway Arts and Conservation Trust.

To view the full concept design visit our Council’s Coromandel Service Centre at 355 Kapanga Road.

New life injected into Citizens Hall

Plans to refurbish the Coromandel Citizens Hall, at 455 Kapanga Road, are also well advanced. The budget for this project was increased to $250,000 in the 2017/18 Annual Plan, which allows an additional $200,000 in external funding to be accessed from the Coromandel Bizarre Trust.

The building dates from the late 1800s and has already been partially refurbished thanks to $20,000 in funding from the Coromandel-Colville Community Board, a $25,000 grant from the Coromandel Senior Settlement Trust and other, smaller, donations.

The main hall will be repiled, the eastern wall replaced and the annex removed this financial year (ending 30 June 2018).

A project manager has been engaged and is currently scoping these repairs in consultation with Heritage NZ.

We hope to have the planning requirements for this work completed by November 2017 and physical works begin early 2018.

Following this, to complete the total refurbishment, aesthetic improvements will be made to the interior of the hall and kitchen area, which are being generously funded by the Bizarre Trust.

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