Memorial Hall Difficulty Resolved

Chronicle (Levin), 3 November 1948, Page 4

Memorial Hall Difficulty Resolved

Ari indicatipn that, apart from the deletion of one clause, the , Levin R.S.A.'S executive was very . sati'sfied with the result ' ' of its negotiations with the Levin Borough Council in regard to the handing over of the Memorial Hall fpnds and section^ was giVen by the organisation's president,' Mr. N. M. ' Thomson, at the monthly meeting of the . council on Monday night. He was leadjng a deputation to the council with regard td the clause Which the council had declined. It was the one which required the council's caretaker to clean the ciubroom portion of the proposed buil'ding along with the other duties' he would "be required to perform for the council.

When putting the case for the association, Mr. Thomson said that the idea behind the erection of the elubrooms was not solely to hold convivial ^meetings, but principally to hold the assoeiatiori together. It had been proved that an association which had elubrooms was always stronger than one without them. It was in the interests of servicemen that the association was kept strong. By handing over the hall to the council to administer, the R.S.A., was sacrificing its claim to the revenues derived from the renting of the hall, revenues which would have gone towards the maintenance of the elubrooms portion as well as the remainder of the building. All. the money collected over the past few years had been credited to the Memorial Hall fund, so that the association had actually bee.n running at a toss. The Rose Day appeai had been the only money that had been devoted to the club's funds. The association would be faced with heavy cleaning charges and for that reason the clause h'ad been included, continued _ Mr. Thomson. It was not a question of the caretaker doing scrubbing or other such work, but only the lighter cleaning when he was wor.king on the other part of the building. , . . The Mayor, Mr. H. B. Burdekm, said that he thought that a payment to the R.S.A. might .meet the case, and suggested £1 a week,1 Stating that funds would be coming to hand from the revenue of the hall to meet . cleaning work. After further discussion, it wasagreed that £1 a week be paid to the association, as from the time the whole building was .qrected, towards the expense of pleanijig the elubrooms portion. ' -.'ol. On behalf of the dqpu^ation, which comprised ,the majority of the executive, Mr. Thomson said that this would be very acceptable to the association. The Mayor's suggestion had impressed him, as it surmounted many difficulties. When the R.S.A. executive's verbal approval of the aljterations to its original proposal is confirmed, the next step by the council will be an application to the Internal Affairs Department for approval of the scheme as a war.. memorial. Approval by the department automatieally gives the council the right to the £1 for £1 subsidy on the funds raised. The next step will be an application for a building permit for the complete structure. If this is turned down, then the council will apply for a building permit to eover the erection of the elubrooms portion of the building, which, when the complete structure is erected, will be incorporated into the general plan,