Crunch time for RSA’s survival
Big changes needed for Taupo¯ RSA
It’s a Kiwi icon of many communities — but it’s struggling to survive, including in Taupo¯.
The Taupo¯ RSA, which went into voluntary administration in March this year, is now facing big changes to ensure it survives into the future.
The RSA is split into two entities, the Taupo¯ RSA Trust which owns the RSA land and buildings in Horomatangi St, and the Taupo¯ RSA Inc which leases the building from the Trust and operates the RSA.
But a series of poor financial decisions put Taupo¯ RSA Inc on the verge of bankruptcy.
Its affairs are now being managed by a two-person Board of Management of Richard Cairns and Garry Lough.
The board has the difficult task of returning the RSA to solvency and Mr Cairns says the pair are under no illusions about the enormity of the job.
However thanks to the goodwill and support of the RSA Trust the board of management has been able to keep the doors open while the RSA tries to trade its way back to solvency. While the financial position is slowly improving, there is still a long way to go to pay off its huge debt.
Mr Cairns says the most urgent need is for the RSA to begin to generate some income in its existing building, revitalise itself and make it commercially viable and relevant to the wider community, by attracting people to the restaurant and by encouraging more use for functions and gatherings. One of the goals in the board’s short-term plan was to build the restaurant trade and the first step has been to recruit a suitably qualified and experienced chef to take over the club’s restaurant and develop a modern, appetising menu to appeal to all diners.
Mr Cairns believes the Taupo¯ RSA brand is in urgent need of a modern makeover and says at present walking into the RSA is “like walking into a time warp” with an outside perception that the RSA is a club for old people.
“We want to rebrand as a venue for the community to use rather than a closed club.”
The RSA building also needs addressing.
It was opened in 1962 but is run-down and requires earthquake strengthening.
However the costs of bringing it up to code are prohibitive, so one option may be to sell the building and site to a developer and either occupy space in a new building on the same spot or to relocate somewhere else.
With the Taupo¯ District Council looking for a new home and the Heu Heu St carpark at the rear of the RSA building already identified as a possible site for a new civic building, the timing could be good.
The RSA, which was founded in 1916 by wounded World War I veterans, was established in Taupo¯ in 1935 and initially operated out of Rickit’s Hall, and later the Taupo¯ War Memorial Hall before the McCauley family donated two sections in Horomatangi St to ensure a permanent home.
In 1983 the ex-servicemen and women decided to safeguard the RSA’s assets by forming the Taupo¯ RSA Trust, which is the guardian of the land, clubrooms and RSA flats.
Mr Cairns says despite growing community reverence for ANZAC Day, that support hasn’t translated into support for the RSA and believes the onus is on the organisation to restore its relevance to the community.
“It would be a shame for the RSA to get to its 101st anniversary of its founding and then have to close its doors,” he says.
The Taupo¯ RSA is running a competition for a new name and suggestions can be made on its website www.tauporsa.co.nz