Holy Trinity Church gets Nearly $2 million makeover
Plans for new kitchen, toilets, meeting rooms, and build a smaller 80-seat chapel
Tauranga’s Holy Trinity Church is undergoing a nearly $2 million makeover. A building consent worth $1.7m has been approved by the Tauranga City Council to refurbish the old hall and build a smaller 80-seat chapel.
It is one of 203 building consents worth more than $72m issued in February.
Holy Trinity Church administrator Donald Carter said the hall, built in the early 1950s, was originally meant to have been demolished after a fire at the church in 1999.
A childcare centre was meant to have been included in the rebuild, Carter said.
However, he said the build did not happen and was left as is.
“In the last two or three years, in particular, we became aware the hall needed to be either refurbished or pulled down.”
But, Carter said it was going to cost about $50,000 to pull it down.
“We examined the questions as to whether the bones of the hall were good, and they were.
“It was the difference between what is essentially $2 million and $4.5 million.”
The $1.7m refurbishment will include a new kitchen, toilets, meeting rooms, a 130-seat hall and an 80-seat chapel.
“Part of the dream was to put a chapel in.”
Carter said the project was under way and was expected to be completed by August this year.
“We’re still in the process of fundraising for it.”
The need to refurbish the old hall had “always been there”, he said.
“The feedback we’ve had from the community over the long period of time simply by interest is: ‘Have you got a space?’
“We had a space, but it was very old and tired.”
Carter said the refurbishment had been in the making for at least three years and he was “absolutely thrilled” to reach this point.
“There’s a great sense of anticipation.”
Priest in charge Adrienne Bruce said the refurbishment had “huge potential” for the parish and was “very necessary”.
“This is going to provide the space for all sorts of things to happen here. It is very exciting,” she said. “There’s a real buzz in the parish.”
Reverend Dale Williamson, who was the co-vicar of Holy Trinity Tauranga, said the idea had been in the pipeline for a few years.
“People were excited about the idea of having a smaller chapel for smaller events,” she said.
Williamson said people had enjoyed collecting, saving and preserving special treasures to incorporate into the new chapel.
Panels of the soldiers’ memorial stained glass window unveiled by the Bishop of Waiapu in 1923 were being restored as a triptych to go in the new chapel’s newly restored hall precinct.
It was thought to have been destroyed in the fire, but the window was found in 2020, damaged but restorable.
Jigsaw Architects' impression of what the newly refurbished hall and chapel could look like.