Volunteer nails centre upgrade
Retired builder Roy works tirelessly to complete renovation of community hub
Roy Opie has been working on upgrading the Ocean Road Community Centre for a long time, but the finishing touches are now being applied.
The Paraparaumu Beach-based community centre has been owned by a trust comprising members from Kāpiti Rotary, Kāpiti Lions and the Kāpiti Senior Citizens Association since 2014, which is now chaired by Colin Anderson, and he said there had been plans to renovate the building for a long time.
He said the idea to improve the community centre was formed before he was involved in the trust, in about 2016, and that’s when the fundraising began.
They initially estimated the renovations to cost about $600,000, but after several years, when they had raised about $300,000, Opie volunteered to do the work for free.
“We just didn’t have the finance to employ people,” Opie said.
They ended up raising $360,000 in total, and thanks to Opie, they have been able to stay within that budget.
And he said that’s especially amazing considering all the challenges they’ve faced over the years.
Work on the community centre started about three years ago, and since then, Opie said they’ve had to deal with rising costs, Covid restrictions, and continuous disruptions due to people needing the building.
“Some weeks, we would have three times we had to stop working [due to people needing the community centre].”
But despite those inconveniences, the work is nearly done.
Opie did almost everything himself, including all the subcontracting work such as plumbing, drainage, and painting, except for electrical work.
Some of the improvements made to the community centre were the addition of a separate meeting room, improved roofing, more storage, a more accessible point of entry, more fire exits, and a better women’s bathroom — which will be Opie’s last job.
Anderson said the new entrance would make a huge difference for older people, as vehicles can now drive up to the covered entry.
Opie didn’t do it all entirely by himself, though — over the past three years, he’s had several helpers, including his “second in charge” Julian Chadwick, Menz Shed member Kevin Avery, Doug Hooper-Smith, and many others who have come and gone over the years.
Looking back on his work at the community centre, Opie said, “It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done”, and he was pretty sure Kā piti won’t ever see another project quite like this one.
“You’ll never see another project like this again.”
“Nobody will ever come around and do a voluntary project like this.”
The official re-opening will be happening on November 11 at 10am, and Anderson said they’re expecting about 120 people to be there, including Kāpiti Mayor Janet Holborow.
It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done . . . You’ll never see another project like this again. Roy Opie
Ocean Road Community Centre.