A public meeting is being called to explore the possibility of retaining an Ashburton sports hall with a 72-year history of community use before it goes to market.

The Rotary Club of Ashburton is inviting community groups to discuss the viability of running the Ashburton Centennial Sports Hall on Tancred Street together at a meeting at Community House on July 16 at 7 p.m.

Club spokespersons David Mead and John Driscoll said the club is keen to give the community the opportunity to explore possible retention.

The Tancred Street Hall had been owned and managed by the Ashburton Centennial Sports Hall Society since 1954, but the organisation wound up and gifted the building to the council in March.

The council considered an options report behind closed doors in May and decided to put it on the open market.

The report on the hall, including its operational costs, revenue, and a building assessment remains confidential, but will be provided as part of the tender pack for prospective purchasers.

Business support general manager Helen Barnes previously stated the council was seeking a local real estate agency to handle commercial offers for the building, and council will receive tenders from community groups.

Barnes said the council plans to have the Hall on the market at the end of July, with a deadline sale date mid-September to have a settlement by mid-November.

The Rotary club has an interest in the sports hall as it is home to its annual Bookarama fundraiser and has been for many years – and will go ahead for at least one more year in the Hall in September.

The club is aware a number of other organisations also use the hall on a regular basis.

Mead said the public meeting will give all hall users, and any other people with an interest in the hall’s future, an opportunity to consider if there are viable options to secure the hall for the community in the future.

 

By Jonathan Leask