Big celebration planned for hall

Big celebration planned for hall
Last updated 05:00 30/03/2011

LAIRD HARPER/Taranaki Daily News

COUNTING DOWN: Friends of the Eltham Town Hall secretary Pauline Turpie prepares for a monster year of celebrations as the hall brings up the big 100.
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The Eltham Town Hall will celebrate 100 years of theatrical excellence and silver screen quotation on May 8.

Built in 1911 and designed by Taranaki's most prolific architect, John Alfred Duffill, the hall was the first in Taranaki to show silent movies, hosted an array of national performers and was the pride of the town. More recently the hall was used as a sound stage during the filming of Predicament.

Friends of the Eltham Town Hall secretary Pauline Turpie said they wanted to do more than the usual cutting of the cake to celebrate the centenary and set about launching months of entertainment.

"It will start with a birthday celebration on May 8 but will continue on with concerts, comedy nights, a short film festival and a mid-winter celebration in the coming months."

Mrs Turpie said until the group began its $500,000 renovation project in early 2000 the hall was in a sad state.

"It was allowed to go to rack and ruin and it was just grotty. It was so awful."

She said once the rejuvenation project was completed, thanks to fundraising and grants from the TSB Trust and TET, they still had trouble enticing people back to the grand old building.

"People remembered it the way it was. The building is just beautiful now."

The hall, which has been used sporadically throughout its later years, will now come alive with eight events in three months already booked and a host of others in the pipeline.

"It's about marketing the building and bringing productions and events back to Eltham."


- Taranaki Daily News