Interest in ex-RSA building

The North Otago RSA building in Oamaru. Photo by David Bruce.
The North Otago RSA building in Oamaru. Photo by David Bruce.

''A lot of expressions of interest and proposals'' have been received by the Waitaki District Council for the RSA building it may inherit now the North Otago branch has decided to go into liquidation.

The two-storey building is on Crown war memorial reserve land and members last month voted the building go to the council.

The building opened in 1951, and with improvements had a 2012 value of $345,000.

Waitaki Mayor Gary Kircher said the council had received a lot of interest in and proposals for the building.

At this stage, the council was carrying out a full assessment of the building to determine what it was dealing with before considering future uses.

Council property specialist Graeme Pointon said the assessment, which included issues such as seismic strength, building integrity and fire procedures, was in anticipation of responsibility being taken by ratepayers.

While the RSA had voted to hand over the building, that still had to be ratified.

The issue of future use of the building was raised by Oamaru ratepayer Louisa Burrell at yesterday's public forum. She said

the ''fantastic building'' offered a lot to groups which used it - Age Concern's gentle exercise programme attracted 50 to 60 people a week, aged between 60 and 100.

While the club had wound up, its bowling and snooker and billiard clubs still used the building.

Casual users were also continuing to use the building in the short term.

The building has a hall, offices, bar, kitchen, clubrooms, snooker rooms and other facilities, along with a bowling green and associated facilities.

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