Cambridge Town Hall is about to have its most successful income year in a decade, but it needs a seven figure injection of funds to preserve and activate it further.
In a presentation to Waipā District Council’s Finance and Corporate committee last week, Cambridge Town Hall Trust chair Kirsty Johnson and general manager Simon Brew pulled no punches in laying out the size of the challenge.
Cambridge Town Hall in the autumn. Photo: Roy Pilott
“Overall maintaining fiscal responsibility while ensuring the successful execution of the renovation project remains a top priority,” said Johnson.
“We want the Cambridge Town Hall to be at the heart of the evolving community.”
Kirsty Johnson
Further upgrades to the Town Hall were among several projects put on hold when the council opted for an Enhanced Annual Plan rather than a 10-year Long Term Plan.
The $2.1 million the council was to spend on the Town Hall in the 2024-2025 financial year was taken out – along with money for other big spending projects.
Councillors instead voted on giving the trust operating funds of $502,999 as part of its Enhanced Plan hearings this week.
That funding uncertainty was making it difficult for the trust, said Brew.
“This has been a really challenging time and I know it’s been challenging for the council too.”
A longer view of what funding looked like was necessary, he said.
Simon Brew
The trust would embark on an annual appeal next month.
“We have no option but to ask people for large sums of money,” said Brew who said the Town Hall needed at least $25 million to give it more than just a face lift.
“We make no apology, we are after people who can give us seven figures. We won’t get there on small grants.”
Work will start from November on upgrades in the side Victorian and Edwardian rooms utilising funds previously granted by the council.
Income from the Town Hall netted $60,000 at the end of April, two months out from the end of the financial year.
The year would end up being more than double the previous year, said Johnson, without an increase in fees.
Liz Stolwyk
Nearly 70 per cent of available days were now booked with weekends almost sold out. Trustees are considering whether those times should attract a premium.
In the past year the trust – which was established in 2021 and comprises volunteers – introduced a new online booking system and hired a project manager to progress the capital spend.
Three recent workshops gave the trust the opportunity to understand the hall’s usage and bring the community along for the journey, said Brew.
Deputy mayor Liz Stolwyk, who was instrumental in getting the Town Hall Trust formed, said trustees were doing an “incredible job.”
Andrew Brown
“Keep your heads up high.”
Finance chair Andrew Brown also congratulated them while acknowledging their frustrations over funding.
Yet they were confronting the problem head-on and despite the big numbers, had the aspiration to achieve progress.
