Puahue Community Hall Improvement Feasibility Assessment

Puahue Community Hall was built and gifted to the community in the 1940s. It was shifted to its current site in 1986 so that it could operate as a convenient and useful community hub next to the Puahue School. There is regular (daily) use by not only the School, but by the Playcentre, local music teachers, community cluster groups, discussion groups, those holding fundraising events and community members for private functions and significant occasions. Puahue Hall is a local Civil Defence meeting point and a base for a number of cycle races in the area.

The Project sought to improve the Puahue Community Hall in order for it to remain a functional, appealing and safe community venue. Key objectives of the Project were:
1. Increase the capacity of the Hall to accommodate up to 200 to 250 people at a single time safely. The Waipa District Council Building WOF for the old hall specifies a maximum capacity of 120 people.
2. Upgrade the bathrooms and the wastewater system to provide facilities for disabled and allow for easier access to bathrooms for external events such as cycle races.
3. Upgrade the kitchen to enable the Hall to provide a better venue for events and other activities that require food preparation/catering.
4. Improve the condition of the Hall so that ongoing maintenance/improvements should be minimal going forward.
5. Alter the entrance so that students/community members do not need to cross a carpark to enter the Hall, while not losing car parking space.
6. Enhance the layout of the Hall so that multiple community groups can use it simultaneously.
7. Create a large covered outdoor area for all-weather use with an indoor-outdoor flow.
8. Redesign and seal the carpark to enable more effective, safer use of the space.
9. Install air-conditioning and insulation for the winter and summer seasons.