The front section of the closed St Martin's Hall in Northeast Valley is safe for use as a toy library, the Anglican Church says.
The Northumberland St hall was closed at the end of last year after an engineer's report found it was not up to code.
In August, the Dunedin Toy Library moved into the hall from its previous location in Castle St. The group keeps its collection of toys in the lounge at the front of the hall, and the library is open to the public for one hour on Wednesday and Saturday mornings.
The library has about 40 members and is seeking to grow its membershipToy librarian Ali Rashidinejad said the group was told the rear of the hall was unsafe before the toys were moved into the front lounge.
The group did not use the rear section.
Anglican Parish of Dunedin North priest assistant Ivica Gregurec said the back hall was closed to the public.
''As a church/parish we are happy to provide space for the toy library and, if they [weren't] using the lounge, we would still be using it for our activities, until further decision is made about the future of it by the Diocesan Trust.''
Anglican Southern Diocese general manager Graeme Sykes said an engineering report completed late last year found the rear of the hall was in danger of collapsing during an earthquake. The decision was made to close that part of the hall to the public and now it was used for storage and occasionally to access the rear of the section.
The front lounge area was not at risk of collapse according to the report and the church had decided the toy library could use it.
Mr Sykes said the diocese owned about 70 buildings, about half of which were in Dunedin.
''Most of the Dunedin Anglican church property has now been assessed regarding meeting the building standard for earthquake strengthening.
''All of the assessments have some level of work required and parishes are reviewing what they can afford. The parishes have to decide what they can afford to spend on their property for upgrading,'' he said.
''Providing safe buildings is a primary concern. We have a desire that over the long term property should be upgraded to meet a higher standard.''
While it was possible some parishes would close due to upgrading being prohibitively expensive, only two buildings had been closed because they were deemed unsafe - St Martin's Hall and the St Kilda Anglican Church.
It was likely the Anglican Church would eventually sell St Martin's Hall, Mr Sykes said.
