New Hope For Historic US Marines Hall in Titahi Bay
The historic Marines Hall in Titahi Bay, which has been threatened with demolition at the hands of Porirua City Council, now has more hope with the announcement of a newly established Charitable Trust to facilitate donations etc for its restoration.
In 20013 Porirua City Council initiated an emergency closure of the hall as a result of a consultants report that building deterioration was so severe that it could blow over in the next big storm. With advice of $800,00 to repair or $1M to replace, PCC initiated a proposal for demolition.
Since then independent advice has been that damage is less severe than anticipated.
A packed
public meeting in April last year supported a voluntary
community project to restore it.
The elected working
group established a business plan and immediately received
community support of over $100,000 of funds raised in
pledges, sponsorship and grants.
That was done for council decision deadlines of October, then November 2017.
The
business plan was for restoration at a cost of $660,00 and
at no cost to the ratepayer.
At the end PCC would be
gifted back an asset of $800,000.
Alternatively, if
pursued by PCC, basic demolition would cost ratepayers over
$200,000.
With mitigation, that would likely be over
$580,000.
That is because the hall is legally protected
for its Heritage & Amenity Value and would require resource
consent for demolition.
Working Group chairperson Wendy Leary is enthusiastic at the community response and says “why would Council risk $580,000 on demolition when the community has offered to fix it for nothing?”