Stratford War Memorial Centre (1955/1995)

Original War Memorial Hall

Stratford’s War Memorial Hall was opened at 2pm on Sunday 24 April 1955.

Located on Miranda Street where the district’s saleyards had previously been, the site was chosen by the Stratford Borough Council on 3 May 1950 when they decided that construction of a community centre, able to accommodate sporting as well as entertainment events, would be a fitting memorial to the Second World War.

Fundraising for the hall began in 1951 with a range of activities held, including a Queen Carnival contest (won by Miss Jill Scott) which brought in more than £10,000 and a mock mayoral election (won by Joshua Barraclough, barman at the Stratford Hotel, with 18,644 votes) organised by the local Jaycee Club which made another £211.

A tender of £32,521 was accepted in July 1953 after a government subsidy was added to the money already raised by the community, along with a council grant, and building work began on 28 October that year.

Wellington architect Maurice Patience designed the new hall, which was constructed by New Plymouth carpenter Joseph Herbert Ashman, and featured a large stage and gallery, kitchen, dressing and shower rooms as well as a supper venue that opened out onto a patio with a view of the mountain.

The main hall had matai flooring and, at 568 square metres, was one of the biggest enclosed areas in Taranaki, with seating for 1200. Memorial gardens were planned for outside the entrance on Miranda Street.

Minister of Internal Affairs Sidney Walter Smith officially opened the building, which had been decorated with flowers, before a crowd of nearly 1000 people, assisted by Mayor Norman Harold Moss and Archdeacon of Taranaki Gordon Hay Gavin. A special Anzac Day service was held in the hall the following day, with Brigadier Alan Huia Andrews giving the commemorative address followed by a lunch for returned servicemen and women prepared by the Central Taranaki Women’s Division Federated Farmers.

A cross of sacrifice was later erected outside the hall by the Stratford and District Returned Services Association and dedicated on 10 November 1957.

The Stratford War Memorial Hall became a hugely popular venue for indoor sports like badminton and bowls, as well as cultural events ranging from debutante balls and religious revival meetings to election debates.

The Borough Council initially banned the use of the hall for public dances but from 12 May 1956 crowds of more than a thousand people attended fortnightly dances on Saturday nights. These were put on by The Overseas Club, a branch of the international organisation founded in England in 1910 for the purposes of promoting the British Empire

The hall was nicknamed “Taranaki’s Danceland” and earned a reputation as the region’s best venue – when hundreds of American sailors arrived in New Plymouth on the icebreaker USS Staten Island in November 1958 a gala dance was held in their honour at the Stratford War Memorial Hall, and revellers at New Year’s Eve dances were entertained by famous local acts like Colin King and the Harmonisers and Lew Pryme.

Such dances ceased in the 1970s but the hall continued to be used for everything from cabarets and hairdressing competitions to the annual Taranaki Shears show.

New War Memorial Centre

By the 1990s the old hall was nearly forty years old and refurbishment was clearly required. Architect Gavin Roberts redesigned the structure at a cost of $1.2 million, increasing its seating capacity and adding new catering facilities, bathrooms and an extra meeting room. The building was renamed the Stratford War Memorial Centre and the army, navy and air force were all referenced – in the desert-sand and navy colours and stainless-steel turrets, respectively – in its new design.

The War Memorial Centre was opened at 11am on Tuesday 9 May 1995, a date chosen to mark fifty years since VE Day, the end of the Second World War in Europe.

After functioning as a Covid vaccination centre during the pandemic, the hall was declared earthquake-prone in 2023, rated at just 15% of the new building standard, with strengthening work planned.

Related documents:

Civic Centre as war memorial (Taranaki Herald 12 March 1954)

Stratford War Memorial Community Centre (Taranaki Herald 21 April 1955)

Stratford Memorial Hall opened (Taranaki Herald 26 April 1955)

Stratford War Memorial Hall refurbished (Taranaki Daily News 9 May 1995)