There may be new life for old chairs yet

The old Victorian-style chairs in the Otautau Town Hall could soon find new life in Bill Richardson Transport World.

The content of the hall was disputed at the Otautau Community Board meeting this week after board members could not agree on what to do with the chairs.

The hall was closed in 2011 because the front portion and the auditorium had a seismic rating below 34 per cent. The building is scheduled to go out for tender but a timeframe is unknown.

The chairs are Victorian-style theatre seats made from wrought iron and had been listed for sale on Trade Me in 2015 and there had been an offer from the HW Richardson Group to buy the lot of 100 for $20, board members said.

Board member Peter Gutsell said $20 was too low an offer and he wanted to relist the chairs on Trade Me but other board members wanted to move the chairs, and other joinery, out of the building before it goes up for tender. ‘‘Another few months isn’t going to do any harm,’’ he said.

The board voted to reconfirm the Richardson Group offer if it was still interested. There had been interest from other parties, but none had wanted to buy all 100 chairs, board members said.

Fellow member Peter Herrick said Otautau residents were still paying for the hall through their rates. ‘‘We need to let [ratepayers] know what we’re doing, we owe it to them,’’ he said.

After the meeting, Bill Richardson Transport World tourism operations manager Hannah Whyte said she thought the chairs would be destined for the movie theatre in the museum.