Community Centre − A New Heart for Warkworth

WHERE:
Baxter Street, Warkworth, between the Masonic Hall and Lucy Moore Park

Introduction

The proposed community centre on the riverbank in Warkworth awaits community input and comment before the final design goes to the Rodney District Council for approval. Building will start following design approval, funding agreement and resource consent approval.

The $6 million project, sited between Baxter Street and the Mahurangi River, will take in the Historic Masonic Hall and will include a 400-seat tiered auditorium, a 250-seat lounge, glass walls, large windows, viewing corridors and decks giving spectacular vistas of the river, spaces for art exhibitions - and a brand new Visitor Information Centre. The VIC staff are likely to manage the new building. A kitchen, bar, meeting rooms and toilets are also included.

WHO:
Architects Grant Neil Ltd Warkworth and Avery Team Architecture Ltd Auckland. Advisory Committee, Dorothy Goudie, Heather Metcalfe, David Parker, Peter Thompson,  Guy Scholefield, Bruce Wilson, Graeme North and Beverley Simmons, representing a wide cross section of the community plus Paul White (RDC Staff), Ngati Whatua and the three northern councillors.

HOW MUCH:
Current building cost estimate is $6 million.

WHEN:
Once approved, work will hopefully start in late 2005


Twenty years of dreams and plans....

Multi Purpose Centre to Serve Northern Rodney

Warkworth's proposed new Community Centre will have several features which will make it novel in the North.

Its tiered seating, large stage and acoustic design will make it ideal for music, drama or dance, and it will also be used for conventions and other major gatherings.

The Community Centre's setting on the bush-backed banks of the Mahurangi River will make it a perfect venue for weddings and other celebrations, and the design of the kitchen and serveries means that catering will be straightforward for functions held in either the foyer or the lounge.

The advisory committee is keen to see the centre used extensively by local organisations and by visiting groups, and the hire charges will be based on market rates. The committee's business plan indicates the centre should be self funding within a year or two, and that it will eventually become profitable.

The first proposal for a community centre in Warkworth was unveiled by the Rotary Club of Warkworth in 1984, but for a variety of reasons it was shelved by the Town Council.

In 1990 another proposal led to land purchases in Baxter Street, and another design. But while a new car park and a new council service centre and library were built, a range of issues remained to be resolved before detailed planning for the community centre could get going.

Three years ago the Warkworth Community Centre Group, with council support, selected a team of architects - and the outcome is the plans and proposal which are now open for community comment.

Funding Options to be Assessed

$6 million is the estimated cost of Warkworth's proposed community centre.

The Council has budgeted $2.3 million in the Long Term Council Community Plan.

The total funding package is likely to include possible contributions under the recently approved Plan Change 62, a levy from ratepayers within the area of benefit, and community fundraising by Warkworth Service clubs and other groups.

Income from the sale of council assets, naming rights, bequests and donations are other possibilities.