Free chairs up for grabs
Whether it’s for a project, in appreciation of their vintage feel or the draw of cheap seats, old chairs from the Dannevirke Town Hall are up for grabs.
Tararua District Council will replace the seating in the hall’s viewing circle balcony in an $85,000 refurbishment next month.
Community assets and property manager Peter Sinclair said the council had opened a register of interest for people keen to snag a few of the old seats for free, on a first-come, first-served basis.
‘‘The council doesn’t have any use for them any more and the more we can get rid of the less we have to deal with in the refurbishment.’’
Sinclair said the old-fashioned spring chairs had been reupholstered a few times and were closing in on their use-by-date for the council’s purposes, but they still had life in them for people who liked the vintage look.
Nearly 50 of the seats were spoken for a day after the registrations opened, but 200 more were still available.
Sinclair said one of the early birds thought it would be nice to have a piece of history in their home, while other people might be looking for a small do-it-yourself project. Similar seats were snapped up fairly quickly when the halls downstairs seating was replaced a few years ago.
‘‘The old seats were in rows of six and were heavy as anything, so they were difficult to move when someone wanted to use the hall for something that required a clear space.’’
Sinclair said a Dannevirke dance studio took a few of those and was still getting good use from them as seating for people waiting for a class. The new, wider and more comfortable seats will be installed early next month, and contractors will begin pulling the old ones out a couple of days before. Sinclair said anyone who’d registered to take old chairs could arrange a time to pick them up.