What a gift!

Through the generosity of veteran bowlers, the good people of Hataitai have been gifted this extraordinary asset: a big piece of flat land and an historic building. 

After 100 years as a thriving bowling club, including a history of members representing NZ in bowls and a hefty trophy cupboard, membership of the Hataitai Bowling Club started to fall. A drop in membership was not unique to the Hataitai Bowling Club but seeking an alternative to winding up and selling the assets (most likely to property developers) was. Through collaboration, and a desire to keep the club premises in community hands, the remaining bowlers established The Hataitai Community Recreation Trust (“HCRT” or “The Trust”). This Trust is mandated to manage the building on behalf of the Hataitai community, ensuring the clubhouse and green will always be retained and kept available for community use. Thank you to the Hataitai Bowling Club – we are so grateful!

The Trust is currently focussed on strengthening and redeveloping this wonderful gift to ensure it meets the needs of the community now and well into the future.

Redevelopment plans

The clubhouse is in need of renovation. It was first built in 1910, elegantly extended in 1955, and expediently altered in the 1970s. All told, it was once a good-looking building. We’re working to redevelop it, to honour the highlights of a glorious past, and blend it with our vision of a glorious future. 

The Trust has been working on redevelopment plans since 2016. After engagement with professional advisors and community consultation completed by Lumin, initial concept plans were shared in 2019. Today, after an extensive consultation programme and in response to feedback, we are delighted to release the revised concept plans. 

Trustees of The Hataitai Community Recreation Trust believe the current design meets the request from Hataitai residents for a multi-use space that can be used by the wider community. The building will continue to be used for community classes, meetings, monthly markets, and private or public events. It can also expand its offering by becoming a drop-in and hang-out facility, and the only publicly funded arts & culture facility east of the Mt Victoria tunnel. 

To accommodate for the variety of activities, the building will offer a small, medium and large space. Upstairs will house our Community Coordinator, a generous meeting room and a large space for classes. The whole upstairs level will be raised by 700mm to provide greater headroom downstairs and enable a more generous space. This area will include a commercial kitchen, easy connection with the outdoor green, and will be ideal to accommodate large events, performances, exhibitions and even a pop-up cafe. 

The raised floor level also enables the first floor entrance to align with Hataitai Road. This improves visibility of the building and provides flat accessibility, making our building more inclusive. To support access and mobility we will have a wide flat access path and a lift servicing the first and ground floors. Signage and lighting characteristics will support hearing and sight impairment. Mobility parking for Hataitai Road has recently been approved and should be installed shortly. 

The facility will continue to support outdoor activities with the bowling green maintained to support casual community use, a place to kick a ball around, or host a fitness boot camp. The petanque piste will also be retained and we are looking at ways to incorporate a basketball/netball hoop.

We want to honour this extraordinary gift by making something special, that is well-used for another hundred years, and we need your support.

Next Steps

With concept plans and budget estimates complete, our next step is fundraising. We are delighted to announce that, thanks to a grant provided by the Wellington City Council, our redevelopment team of volunteers is working with Jenni Giblin, Founder and Director of Funding HQ, to assess and realise our fundraising potential. Jenni has recently been engaged to work with us over the next two years to raise the funds required to turn our concept plans into a reality that the wider Wellington community can enjoy.

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