Normanby's war memorial hall and recreation centre, located in the Normanby Domain on Ketemarae Road, was opened by Whanganui MP Chester Borrows at 4pm on 5 December 2009. It replaced the original war memorial hall, designed by Hāwera architect Graeme Laurenson and built for £13,000, which was opened on 11 December 1954 but burnt down on the night of 20 August 2008. That hall was itself a replacement for the very first Normanby Town Hall, which opened with a celebratory ball on 27 December 1880 only to burn down early on the morning of 8 December 1950.
The commemorative plaque from the 1950s memorial hall was restored and set into an external wall of the new building and reads:
NORMANBY & DISTRICT / WAR MEMORIAL / TOWN HALL / ERECTED IN HONOUR / OF THOSE WHO SERVED / IN THE WORLD WARS / 1914–18, 1939-45.
Another plaque commemorating the opening of the new recreation centre reads:
In Commemoration of the Opening of the Normanby War Memorial Recreation Centre. Officially opened by Whanganui Electorate MP Chester Borrows, 5th December 2009. This Project Supported by the Normanby Community.
Related Documents
Inferno destroys town hall by Jayne Hulbert and Greta Cleary Taranaki Daily News 21 August 2008.
Police believe fire was deliberately lit by Greta Cleary Taranaki Daily News 22 August 2008.
Club gear also lost in blaze by Greta Cleary Taranaki Daily News 23 August 2008.
STDC has replacement plan for hall destroyed by fire by Greta Cleary Taranaki Daily News 10 November 2008.
Council shows off hall replacement by Greta Cleary Taranaki Daily News 10 December 2008.
Residents welcome opening of new hall by Ryan Evans Taranaki Daily News 7 December 2009.
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