Te Puke Hall closes for earthquake work

The Te Puke Memorial Hall will close next week, Monday 9 October, for up to three months to allow for earthquake strengthening work.

Strengthening work involves fixing steel portal frames from one side of the hall to the other.

Other community halls in the wider Te Puke area (Paengaroa, Pongakawa, Pukehina and Te Ranga) will be available for events during this time.

Western Bay of Plenty District Council Strategic Property Manager Blaise Williams says the earthquake work is being done by construction company McMillan & Lockwood.

Other halls in the District will be assessed as to their condition, but as most are single-storied and of wooden construction, they are less earthquake prone as opposed to double-storey, concrete buildings such as the Te Puke Hall, says Blaise.

As part of the project, the Memorial Hall committee is seeking additional funding from the Lottery Grant Board Community Facilities Fund to refurbish the kitchen and toilets.

This includes double glazed windows, flooring, commercial kitchen facilities, updated toilets with disabled access and changing tables, security card entry and wifi.

Council identified the hall as earthquake-prone as a result of the Government's new system for managing earthquake-prone buildings following the Christchurch earthquakes.

The Building (Earthquake-prone Buildings) Amendment Act came into law on 1 July 2017. It categorises New Zealand into three seismic risk areas and sets time frames for identifying and taking action to strengthen or remove earthquake-prone buildings.

Tauranga-Western Bay falls in the in the medium risk area, requiring work on buildings in 10-15 years.