Future looks bright for Hakaru Hall

17 Oct, 2022

JULIA WADE

Tucked away on a rural road and surrounded by country fields, a grand old lady of a building is getting ready to rock out again with a fundraiser concert, and hopes to attract more events to help preserve her nearly-one-hundred-year-old bones.

Labour Weekend will see Hakaru Hall’s rafters filled with song, dance and fun for the annual musical event, featuring eclectic local talent from well-known sing-a-long tunes by popular ukulele band ‘Totally Uked’ to rock band ‘Hakaru Jam’. The concert is vital as funds raised help maintain the beautiful hall which was first built in 1926, however keepers of the hall say more is needed to cover costs and help with future renovations.

Currently booked for a range of activities from line dancing, private ballroom and dance lessons, to puppy obedience and Pilates, band jams and rehearsal, and with Northern Bass using the Domain as their ‘events security centre’, Hakaru Hall committee secretary Dennis Reeve says the potential is extensive.

“There is more awareness of the hall and use has increased a lot over five years due to more people in the area which is great, however we still need more to help with the overall maintenance and ongoing expenditure such as power,” he says. “We’re hoping people will recognise that she is central to the community, and for that reason at our recent committee meeting it was suggested we look at establishing a ‘Friends of the Hall’, for people who might not want to be on the committee but still want to help out with a small annual donation.”

With her 20 x 18 square metre dimensions stretching across a polished wooden floor with high-rafter ceilings plus stage, kitchen and bathrooms, Hakaru Hall is suitable for a select number of indoor sports such as badminton and bowls as well as meetings and large events. With the enchanting St Michaels Church just around the corner on Valley Road and a reception hall with kitchen at the ready, she makes an ideal country setting for weddings Dennis says, ‘it’s all here’.

“The committee also have future plans to open up the east side of the hall with a deck leading out to the Hakaru Domain, a large field often used by the neighbouring Hakaru Pony Club and also open to public use,” Dennis says. “We’re still completing renovations to the front entrance and we’re actually focusing on getting the hall into shape so we can have a decent centennial year celebration in 2026, as we think one hundred years is something to commemorate.”

Hakaru Hall committee AGM is on November 1 at the hall, 7.30pm, everyone welcome.

n HELP NEEDED: If anyone knows how to set up DMX lighting for the Hakaru Hall concert, please give Dennis a call on 0210 628 631.

The beautiful expansive space of the grand old lady, Hakaru Hall. Her care and future lie in the dedicated hands of volunteers, like secretary Dennis Reeve, who wants to encourage more people to make use of the 96-year-old hall. PHOTO/JULIA WADE