Hall back in action
Police have yet to decide whether to reoccupy a community office in the Halswell Community Hall.
The hall re-opened last weekend after being out of action for 19 months from severe damage caused by both the September 2010 and February 2011 earthquakes.
Hoon Hay-Halswell Community Constable Brendon Griebel occupied an office in the hall but has been working from the Addington-Hillmorton community office in Rowley Ave since the September quake.
Senior Sergeant Peter Laloli, of the Hornby police where Constable Griebel is based, said a decision on the Halswell Hall office was pending.
"With the growth out there, we'd like to be able to look at reinstating the office, but there's been no firm decision yet," he said.
Senior Sergeant Laloli said the earthquakes caused many interruptions to normal police operations and a "relocation of boundaries" for community constables.
Reopening the Halswell office would also depend on whether community volunteers could be found to staff the office when the constable was on patrol or making inquiries, he said.
The 99-year-old hall is back in business after lengthy repairs proving the saying "the show must go on".
The hall committee and groups that regularly use the building celebrated last weekend with a re-opening function involving dance, drama and a fundraising auction.
"We had demonstrations from Zumba, Women in Motion, Tai Chi, Tai Kwon Do and entertainment from the Halswell Drama Group," hall committee spokeswoman Taunya Kearns said.
Mrs Kearns, a member of the drama group whose last production, Peggy Sue Got Married, was cut short by the September 2010 earthquake the day after opening, promised a show would be staged again this year.
"It's still in the planning stages, but there will be a musical show."
The hall committee had to raise some $160,000 towards repairs estimated to have cost between $600,000 and $700,000.
Ellesmere parliamentarian Sir Heaton Rhodes donated land to the Halswell community and paid for the hall to be built. It was opened in 1913.
