The 1998 front entranceway of the Northern Wairoa War memorial hall is set for demolition mid-2026.
Photo: Supplied

Kaipara’s deputy mayor says a new town hall for Dargaville should be completed by 2028.

Deputy mayor Gordon Lambeth said he wanted to see a replacement civic complex completed before the end of the current council term.

The comments come in the wake of Kaipara District Council deciding to demolish the settlement’s more than 65-year-old town hall and conjoined 27 year-old civic annex, in a ratepayer-funded $3.98 million project.

Demolition is expected to begin mid next year.

“We need to get going, just to get the town’s civic facilities back to where they once were,” Lambeth said.

It is the latest step in a long-running and often controversial saga of what to do about the two conjoined civic facilities – which included a room for KDC’s Dargaville council meetings – after they were shut to the public in 2023 following the discovery of black mould in the annex.

Lack of maintenance since the closure has seen black mould spread to the town hall, officially known as the Northern Wairoa Memorial Hall.

KDC’s had planned to reclad rather than demolish the town hall.

However, that changed after a recent building assessment found significant remediation would be needed to bring it up to code. It also has black mould.

The annex had also further deteriorated, impacting the connected buildings and posing compliance and health risks.

KDC had also looked to only reclad the site’s third conjoined building – a heritage-listed 1923 former municipal chambers, plus build it new toilets. This has changed to renovating the century-plus old building.

KDC general manager strategic improvement Hayley Worthington said the extra work was expected to come within the existing $3.98m.

Kaipara mayor Jonathan Larsen (left) and deputy mayor Gordon Lambeth.
Photo: LDR / Susan Botting

Kaipara mayor Jonathan Larsen said the town hall demolition decision was a significant turning point.

“The most recent condition report made it clear we needed to act with a sense of urgency. Patch ups could have ultimately been more costly for ratepayers than proceeding with a demolition and rebuild,” Larsen said.

The 1950’s-built town hall and 1998-built annex make up about 80 percent of the footprint of the civic conglomeration in Hokianga Road, along with the 1923 former municipal chambers that take up the remaining 20 percent.

A community trust runs the popular Anzac community movie theatre out of the former chambers.

Dargaville Community Cinema Trust chairperson Tommy Fowlie said the latest council decision was poignant for Dargaville, but practical.

Dargaville Community Cinema Trust chairperson Tommy Fowlie.
Photo: Supplied

Fowlie said there had been hope until now that the iconic and much-used town hall could be saved.

“It was quite a busy hub,” Fowlie said.

But he recognised demolition and rebuilding was the best option in the circumstances.

“After I got over the shock, I realised it was the council’s best move in the current situation.”

Fowlie said the town hall’s demolition was on everybody’s lips.

He said it had been widely used over the years for events including local high school balls, wearable arts shows, local circus performances, indoor netball and badminton.

Fowlie said the movie theatre would have to potentially close during the demolition, but it would not be permanent.

He said noise from the demolition would mean showing movies was untenable.

Fowlie said there could be ways the very well-supported community movie group could adapt through the demolition process.

“It might be that we could show movies in the weekends or after hours, outside when the demolition was being done,” Fowlie said.

Fowlie called on the council to provide a demolition timeline to reassure the trust and community.

Fowlie wanted the demolition started as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, he said community consultation had to be part of creating the replacement civic facilities.

Worthington said it was not possible to provide a timeline until after tendering and contractor appointment.

Worthington said KDC would be working closely with stakeholders to make sure access was maintained during demolition, where possible.

Dargaville Warriors Lodge gaming club president Tristan Sample said the latest demolition decision marked progress on resolving worsening issues with the existing civic centre that should have been sorted out years ago.

The gaming club and Dargaville Medieval Combat Club which Sample co-captains both operate out of the 1923 building.

He said previous plans for the centre had not been tenable.

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.