Hall site to make way for park

The wrecking ball may be at the ready, but plans are afoot to replace the soon-to-be-vacant US Marines Hall site in Tı¯tahi Bay with a commemorative park.

A mural, lantern boxes and fruit trees are among the features being considered for the landscaped park, which must be built within a year of the wrecking ball striking the dilapidated structure.

With an architect engaged to bring the park proposal to life, Porirua Mayor Anita Baker hopes any plan will acknowledge the history of the site.

‘‘This is an area crying out for something that the community can enjoy,’’ Baker said.

The hall amongst the Whitehouse Rd shops was built as a recreation hall by US Marines stationed in the area in 1942. Since then, it has been used as a community hall, a movie theatre and home to the Porirua Little Theatre since 1951.

But after falling into disrepair, the building was boarded up in 2012 after being deemed structurally unsafe and unsanitary. It was deemed an earthquake risk the following year.

While the council voted to bulldoze the hall in 2014, community groups tried unsuccessfully to fundraise for its repair.

A New Zealand Defence Force report released in 2018 catalogued extensive damage, ranging from rusted roofing, borer-ridden walls, leaky gutters and rotting floorboards. Another consultants’ report in 2019 put the repair costs at $2.13 million, a demolition and rebuild costing $2m, and a demolition-only option at about $62,000.

With the building derelict and standing empty for almost a decade, independent commissioners Mark St Clair and David McMahon met last December to review the council’s demolition application, ultimately giving the decision the green light.

The council has set $320,000 for the demolition.

Drop-in sessions and a public survey are likely to be carried out in June. aside