A crowd gathered in Waihī on November 1, for the official opening ceremony of the new Hato Hone St John ambulance station on Johnston St.
The new, state-of-the-art station has already been operational for some time, with staff working from the site since August – a fact which was quickly highlighted when the alarms went off mid-speech, prompting an on-duty officer to head off to a call. November’s event, however, was a chance for the organisation to celebrate the many years of hard work involved in making the new station a reality.
St John chancellor John Whitehead unveiled the plaque commemorating the occasion, following which Brad Mitchell from Mitchell Construction handed over the keys to the building. Blessings and speeches rounded out the formal ceremony.
The afternoon featured open hours, allowing the community to take a peek at the inside of the building. It contains a two-vehicle ambulance bay, bedrooms, offices, a meeting room, kitchen, and lounge.
The staff’s favourite thing about the building, though, is less tangible.
“It’s a place for them to rest, to restock, recharge, and to feel safe,” group operations manager Julia Te Huia said.
“Look how far we’ve come from bars on the windows, leaks in the walls when the rain falls… Once, I came in in the morning and one of the beds was absolutely saturated because the rain had leaked on to the bed where somebody had been sleeping. We don’t have to put up with that anymore. So we’re very grateful.”
The new building has been two decades in the making, with the Waihī area committee working tirelessly on their fundraising efforts since then.
“There have been many, many area committee members to make this project work,” area committee chair Kris Purden said.
“We’ve had amazing community support… I wanted to say a big thank you to all of the people who have made this station better than before.”
