As it marks 100 years standing along Paeroa’s main street, the RSA and Citizens Club is on the brink of a major transformation; earthquake strengthening and a long-awaited restoration are finally within reach.
But getting to this point hasn’t been simple. For years, the club has been working to secure the funds needed to carry out the remedial work required under the country’s earthquake-strengthening rules introduced after the 2011 Christchurch earthquake.
Since then, the Building (Earthquake-prone Buildings) Amendment Act 2016 has required councils across the country to assess older buildings using a consistent national standard.
If a building scored under 37 per cent New Building Code [NBC], it would be considered earthquake-prone and must be strengthened or demolished within a set deadline.
With support from the Hauraki District Council and Community Matters, the Paeroa RSA commissioned engineering assessments and received a final rating of just 15 per cent NBC, and the building was formally declared earthquake-prone in September 2020; the organisation having until May, 2032, to complete strengthening work.
But because the building had heritage protection, demolition was not an option. This left the RSA with the costly task of fundraising for major strengthening work or eventually abandoning the building.
For Paeroa RSA president John Hallett, the latter wasn’t an option.
“It has been a busy 12 months,” he told The Profile, though fundraising has been ongoing since 2020, with community events, raffles, public donations, and member support all helping to cover the $110,000 cost of seismic reports, detailed engineering designs, and building consents.
Now, as the year draws to a close and the building’s centenary approaches, the RSA has secured a grant covering 66 per cent of the work from the Lotteries Grants Board through its Heritage and Community Service funds, totalling $480,000.
To complete the full restoration, it will still need to raise an additional $60,000 in early 2026.
John said the extra funding wouldn’t delay the strengthening itself but was needed for important related improvements, including upgrades to the security and fire alarm systems, repairs to the toilet block and garage roof, and car park resurfacing.
A former civil engineer, John’s motivation to see the RSA restored to its former glory stems from a family connection.
His dad was a returned serviceman and was “very much an RSA supporter”, he said.
“So the RSA has been in the background all my life… and I mean, it is an iconic building.
“I firmly believe it has two functions now in the community. Originally, it was purely to look after the returned servicemen, but now it’s also to provide a community facility.”
And while his forte in engineering was more to do with roads, pavements, bitumen, and crushed rock, John has been at the forefront of the Paeroa RSA building’s future-proofing; though he emphasised it had been a team effort all the way.
“The members got behind us, and I remember sitting with the committee after getting the second report and saying: ‘Look, the next step is a detailed design. We’re going to have to spend $85,000’. And I said: ‘We’re probably planting trees that we’ll never actually get to sit in the shade of’.
“The committee said: ‘No, do it. Otherwise, this club has got no future. If we’re going to be there for future generations, then we need to do this’.”
It’s hoped the restoration will begin in the first-half of 2026.
DETAILS: To help with donations or for more information, contact the RSA president at: paeroarsa@xtra.co.nz
BY KELLEY TANTAU
