Earlier this decade it was decided that the old Cromwell Memorial Hall, about 20 kilometres from where I live, had to be demolished because it was an earthquake risk.
It was another example of bureaucrats convincing politicians to take a Chicken Little approach to old buildings in the wake of what happened in Christchurch in 2011.
The single storey hall, which was opened in 1960, sat safely and peacefully beside the Kawerau River which became Lake Dunstan after the Clyde Dam was finished 35 years ago. Nothing ever fell off it or into it because of an earthquake.
It’s in a town and region of low seismic activity and relatively sparse population. There have been only two shakes in the Otago province above magnitude 5 this century, neither of them very close to Cromwell.
But nevertheless down it came, and the community was then faced with what to replace it with.
Amazingly, the Central Otago District Council (CODC) and Cromwell Community Board (CCB) went for the full noise. A council with an annual income of just over $80 million and just under 15,000 rate paying properties decided on a replacement for the Memorial Hall which would cost the thick end of $46 million!
The new building, to be opened in July, has a 400 seat auditorium, a movie theatre, a café, a museum and numerous multi-use spaces. Outside is a War Memorial Garden with a Cenotaph where we held the Anzac Day service a few days ago.
Aesthetically, I think the complex is overpowering and completely out of character with its environment but nevertheless, managed well it should be a boon to the community for entertainment, arts and culture activities.
It’s been debt funded, the debt to be funded by ratepayers and sales of council land. The council maintain the debt, around 18 million dollars, will be paid off in five years. We’ll see how that goes.
Here’s another issue. It will cost, in today’s dollars, $1.7 million a year to operate. The income in the first year is reported to be around $100,000 rising to $550,000 in six years. In other words, each ratepaying property, as well contributing to debt repayment, will be on the hook for another $80 a year just to keep the doors open and the lights on.
Sigh.
However a niggling issue has been festering around town for a few months. What will the new facility be called?
Many suspected that because the Ngai Tahu iwi consultancy Aukaha was involved in the design there would be a move to give the new building a Māori name. This despite Cromwell and Central Otago being an area essentially bereft of any Māori history or habitation throughout time.
The community was consulted on the name. The overwhelming majority wanted the words Cromwell and Memorial included. The Cromwell Community Board recommended Cromwell Memorial Events Centre. The Central Otago District Council agreed.
But the CODC had also been “gifted” a name by Aukaha, in other words Ngai Tahu. That name, which emerged yesterday is Te Puna Mahara. Apparently it means the spring of remembrance. Sort of appropriate considering it’s a war memorial next to a lake.
But the CODC now faced another issue. Which of the two names would take precedence?
Logic and the majority of the community would suggest the English name would take prominence. There is no marae in Central Otago, just 9.5 percent of the population identify as Maori, about half the national average, and there is no significant Maori history in Cromwell, a town established after the discovery of gold in 1862.
As my friend Councillor Bob Scott pointed out at the CODC meeting only 23 of the more than 600 submissions on the name for the facility suggested a Māori name should take prominence over an English one.
Another Cromwell Ward Councillor Cheryl Laws, wife of Michael, asked the Aukaha design consultant if it would be rude not to use the gifted name first.
The consultant, a Ms Novak, said it would not be impolite but “..it is also up to your community and I suppose what it can do is devalue the name by putting it second.”
Is that what’s called psychological bullying?
Bob Scott, Cheryl Laws, another Cromwell Ward Councillor Charlie Sanders and Maniototo’s Stu Duncan voted for Cromwell Memorial Events Centre to be the main name
Of course they were outvoted 8 to 4.
It’s another example of the elected representatives disregarding the wishes of the majority of their community.
The Aukaha woman could not have put it better. The name Cromwell Memorial Events Centre is being devalued, insulting the vast majority of their electorate.
The voters of Central Otago should remember that when the next elections roll around.
Peter Williams was a writer and broadcaster for half a century. Now watching from the sidelines. Peter blogs regularly on Peter’s Substack where this article was sourced.
It’s in a town and region of low seismic activity and relatively sparse population. There have been only two shakes in the Otago province above magnitude 5 this century, neither of them very close to Cromwell.
But nevertheless down it came, and the community was then faced with what to replace it with.
Amazingly, the Central Otago District Council (CODC) and Cromwell Community Board (CCB) went for the full noise. A council with an annual income of just over $80 million and just under 15,000 rate paying properties decided on a replacement for the Memorial Hall which would cost the thick end of $46 million!
The new building, to be opened in July, has a 400 seat auditorium, a movie theatre, a café, a museum and numerous multi-use spaces. Outside is a War Memorial Garden with a Cenotaph where we held the Anzac Day service a few days ago.
Aesthetically, I think the complex is overpowering and completely out of character with its environment but nevertheless, managed well it should be a boon to the community for entertainment, arts and culture activities.
It’s been debt funded, the debt to be funded by ratepayers and sales of council land. The council maintain the debt, around 18 million dollars, will be paid off in five years. We’ll see how that goes.
Here’s another issue. It will cost, in today’s dollars, $1.7 million a year to operate. The income in the first year is reported to be around $100,000 rising to $550,000 in six years. In other words, each ratepaying property, as well contributing to debt repayment, will be on the hook for another $80 a year just to keep the doors open and the lights on.
Sigh.
However a niggling issue has been festering around town for a few months. What will the new facility be called?
Many suspected that because the Ngai Tahu iwi consultancy Aukaha was involved in the design there would be a move to give the new building a Māori name. This despite Cromwell and Central Otago being an area essentially bereft of any Māori history or habitation throughout time.
The community was consulted on the name. The overwhelming majority wanted the words Cromwell and Memorial included. The Cromwell Community Board recommended Cromwell Memorial Events Centre. The Central Otago District Council agreed.
But the CODC had also been “gifted” a name by Aukaha, in other words Ngai Tahu. That name, which emerged yesterday is Te Puna Mahara. Apparently it means the spring of remembrance. Sort of appropriate considering it’s a war memorial next to a lake.
But the CODC now faced another issue. Which of the two names would take precedence?
Logic and the majority of the community would suggest the English name would take prominence. There is no marae in Central Otago, just 9.5 percent of the population identify as Maori, about half the national average, and there is no significant Maori history in Cromwell, a town established after the discovery of gold in 1862.
As my friend Councillor Bob Scott pointed out at the CODC meeting only 23 of the more than 600 submissions on the name for the facility suggested a Māori name should take prominence over an English one.
Another Cromwell Ward Councillor Cheryl Laws, wife of Michael, asked the Aukaha design consultant if it would be rude not to use the gifted name first.
The consultant, a Ms Novak, said it would not be impolite but “..it is also up to your community and I suppose what it can do is devalue the name by putting it second.”
Is that what’s called psychological bullying?
Bob Scott, Cheryl Laws, another Cromwell Ward Councillor Charlie Sanders and Maniototo’s Stu Duncan voted for Cromwell Memorial Events Centre to be the main name
Of course they were outvoted 8 to 4.
It’s another example of the elected representatives disregarding the wishes of the majority of their community.
The Aukaha woman could not have put it better. The name Cromwell Memorial Events Centre is being devalued, insulting the vast majority of their electorate.
The voters of Central Otago should remember that when the next elections roll around.
Peter Williams was a writer and broadcaster for half a century. Now watching from the sidelines. Peter blogs regularly on Peter’s Substack where this article was sourced.
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