New Treasure Box For Christchurch
Today the Hon. Dr. Megan Woods, (Minister of Infrastructure, Building & Construction, Energy and Housing) announced the new name of the soon to be opened community facility on Rolleston Avenue, at a blessing of the new site ahead of it’s official opening next month.
Papa Hou, meaning ‘treasure box’ in te reo Māori, will open to the public in November, on time and on budget.
The building is the latest addition to a city that has been re-building since the 2011 earthquakes, and was funded from the Government’s Covid-19 ‘shovel ready’ fund.
The Kind Foundation, formerly YMCA Christchurch, has been delivering community and youth programmes and facilities in Ōtautahi Christchurch for over 161 years. In 2021 they launched their newly refurbished Hotel Give, the first socially sustainable hotel in the country. All of the profits from the Hotel are reinvested into community programmes.
The Kind Foundation is a charitable trust that aims to strengthen connection in communities through a broad range of offerings. Papa Hou is indeed a ‘treasure box,’ a unique piece of architecture that incorporates an astonishing array of spaces for a broad range of uses.
“Each of the spaces in Papa Hou has a particular niche for our community that is currently not being met elsewhere. It is important to us that we meet gaps in provision, that we serve our community as well as we can by being relevant, and that we don’t undermine other great work being done in the city, but compliment it.” Said CEO Josie Ogden Schroeder.
The building includes a 200-person capacity ‘black box’ theatre space for community hire, an early learning centre for children of Christchurch Hospital staff, a full-time ballet and dance training academy, a full-time youth training centre for young people pursuing NCEA qualifications, a fitness centre with a focus on the older adult market and injury rehabilitation, a physiotherapy clinic, a café and a range of spaces for groups to gather, meet, learn and create.
“The acoustics were a challenge… but we believe we have created a beautiful mix of things for all ages, cultures, backgrounds and all abilities. The building is a physical embodiment of our ‘why.’ We are all for all people and we want to see people be well, to thrive, to have friends.”