RETURNED MEN'S CLUB

Chronicle (Levin), 4 March 1948, Page 4

RETURNED MEN'S CLUB

R.S.A. Outvotes Suggested •!'? Purchase Of Hatt , By a substantial majority, the Levin R.S.A. . last night /decided dgainst a suggestion that the Druids' Hall in' Bristol Street be purchased as a temporary club fooms, • it was stated by ^0. prcsident, Mr. N. M. Thomson, that the nan had been offered for sale hy tender and the - executive had fiiscussed the possibility of the lo.cal brap.ch submitting a price for consider - tion by -the oWners. The puce tendered; if . accepted, wohld not necessarily be that which woula eventually have to be paid as the Land Saies Court would haw _ final say in the fixing of what it considered to be a fair price. After quoting what he considered would be a reasonable tender for the building, Mr. Thomson went on to.-outline the -probable expenditure which would be required, m the opinion of a builder, to carry out repairs and alterations. He also read a report by_ the same authority oh the condition of the building as it now stood. ■*+*,* Under the present policy of .the branch it would be necessary to retain the dance hall as such, and this could be let to others wiShmg to> copduct "dances. The present kitchen could be.converted mto a billiard room and a small kitchen built on to it, and probably another room for the display of books and periodicals. He wished it to be clearly under'stood, however, that this was not a recommendation

from the executive. • | Outlining the proposals for the purchase of the hall, he said that it' would probably be six or seven years before the branch's _own building would be built, •* and , it might be considered; that. this was too long a time to lapse if , e. members were to be held together. Should the -hall be purchased and used as a temporary club, it could be disposed of later and the money used for its purchase returned^ to_ the building fund. There were, of course, objections to this. The main one considered by the executive was whether the club . was wanted by the members. The branch already had a room m Oxford Street which it used as a headquarters, and which . would later be used for card jparties. SOme members of the executive had also expfessed grave doubts If a billiard or reading room would be used. • - , Another ' pnpOrtant poiiit was whether thelbfaneh 'could1 morally or legally use" money •generqusly donated for the' lnemorial hall and club rooms. It could certainlymot do it morally withoht -the ( CoriSent of the donors; which would meah circularising all of themr H0- Was referring in this, regard to those persons who had made donations and' not those who had giv.en money by way of street days, or .at any of the functions organis.ed; .to raise money. A meeting could not be'called for this purpose, because the consent of a person who did not attend the meeting could not .be assumed.' He personaljy did • not think there would be any pbjection from donors if the money . was wisely spent on temporary premises. The third question was whether the hall was worth 'buying, but from the report of the builder there was no need to worry about that, Mr. Thomson said. Another matter which would have to be considered was whether tlife branch could be certain of getting its money back. The loss of a few hundred pounds might be thought reasonable, coiisidering that the branch had put the hall to some good use, but a big deficit Would be serious. At the present -time tliere was a demand for buildings as factory premises, but when the time came' for the branch to sell it would . have a building permit.for a new buildihg and so also would everyone else. ' Another f actor was that if a towii planning sch'eme' was brought , into operation, the. area in which the . hall was" situated- would- • most likely be residential, and this would rule out its sale as a factory, said Mr. Thomson. If it was decided that it be soid as a dance hall,* it would be found that the biggest factor against this would be the erection of the branch's own hall question was, who would want to question was, "who would want to buy it? N Ih answer to a question he informed members that tenders for the building closed on March 18. ' When put to the meeting for discussion, some were of the opinion that the hall should be purchased. It would be the only chance the branch would have of securing premises, and that by the time. the hall at* present planned"was built interest among members might have lapsed. • . . , Some clubs in other districts were quoted as having turned out financial successes and now had fi-eehold premises. The building in Oxford Street was much too small, and it was considered hy some that by renting the hall to outsiders the deficit brought about by depreciation, or any .other factor, might easily be recovered. ' Many of the older members present considered that it was too early yet fOr a club to prosper. Most of the younger returned men were too busy with their private affairs just now, * and most had young families and were trying to establish themselves. By the time the proposed building was erected, these men would be settled and have more time to devote to club matters. They also considered that clubs, many of which were in br centres, were not paying their way, and if they could not, a small club in a rural district would have little hope of doing so. The majority •agreed, however, that the plan to

: . / - — J . ;=g extend the social side of the branch by the holding of dances and card games was a good one. It was also considered' by some that ihe prospect, of obtaining a permit to make additions to the Druids' Hall would be remote, as the N.Z.R.S.A, had itself urg'ed the Government to disallow permits for the erection of alterations to club rooms. , After" a full discussion, it was. decided by a large majority that no action be takett in the propdsed purchase of the building.