Major upgrade at Glenfield War Memorial Hall

Major upgrade at historic Glenfield War Memorial Hall

March 16, 2004

Glenfield's historic War Memorial Hall has been finally completed as it was intended - 70 years after it was first built.

The Governor General, Dame Silvia Cartwright, will this Saturday officially open the hall's supper room extension, which has been built following the original plans for the building.

North Shore City Council and its Glenfield Community Board contributed $140,000 towards the project, which included an extensive restoration of the heritage building and landscaping of the surrounding gardens in Hall Rd.

The restoration was spearheaded by the Hillcrest Lions Club, which now manages the building, and raised $10,000 towards the project.

The mayor of North Shore City, George Wood, says Glenfield War Memorial Hall has been a fine landmark since it was built in 1934.

"It is an important part of the area's heritage and a tangible reminder of Glenfield's rural beginnings," he says.

"Thanks to the hard work of an enthusiastic and dedicated group of people, this building now stands as those early residents of Glenfield originally intended.

"It is a great strength of our city that the pioneering spirit and community mindedness that led to the initial construction of the hall is still alive today," Mayor Wood says.

Fifteen local families offered their own properties as security to raise the funds needed to build the hall as a memorial to local men who had died in the First World War. However the funds raised were not enough to complete the project as initially planned, so the supper room was never built.

Descendants of some of those early families will attend the opening on Saturday morning.

In its early years the building was at the centre of community activities, but in the latter part of the twentieth century it became rather run-down.

The landmark building has now undergone something of a renaissance and has once again becoming a focal point of community activities.

ENDS

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