The restored Hanmer Springs Soldier's Block, which is almost finished. Photo: Hurunui District Council / Supplied
After 20 years sitting empty, the historic Soldiers' Block at Queen Mary Hospital in Hanmer Springs will reopen as a community centre on Anzac Day.
The Soldiers' Block was built in 1916 to rehabilitate soldiers returning from World War 1, and was later used as a drug and alcohol treatment centre before it shut in 2003.
The Hurunui District Council had been working to restore the building for more than a decade, and in 2023 secured funding to help with the project cost of $3.6 million.
The public were invited to attend the formal opening at 2pm on Anzac Day.
"The reopening is hugely significant, not just to Hanmer Springs or the Hurunui District but to all of New Zealand," mayor Marie Black said.
"It is a unique building in the heart of Hanmer Springs and really its story is as unique as its architecture, having been built in 1916 and its original purpose was to bring light and healing to those soldiers returned and with their having to cope with the horrors of war."
A historic picture of the Soldiers' Block in the early 1900's. Photo: SUPPLIED
Council chief strategy and community officer Judith Batchelor said the opening celebration marked the completion of the restoration project, which included earthquake strengthening and the fit out of the community hall for public use.
"There's going to be a community gym and a space for Ngāti Kurī to establish a wharenui... [in two large octagons] we are working with Wētā Workshop on an immersive experience to establish in those two areas," she said.
The $3.6 million project had been funded by a Lotteries grant, a grant from the Rātā Foundation, government Better Off funding, development contributions and money from the council's earthquake prone buildings fund, Batchelor said.
She said the Soldiers' Block had an important history.
"The unique octagonal wings brought healing light and fresh air to the soldiers who were suffering from mental illness long after they had returned from battle.
"This approach was unique to New Zealand and internationally, and was based on Trentham Camp in England," Batchelor said.
A new World War 1 and World War 2 memorial was also being unveiled in Hurunui's Culverden town on Anzac Day.
It would feature a six-metre high Corten steel laser-cut soldier and poppy that would be lit up at night, and two storyboards telling stories of the men who left on the old branch line to join both wars.
The memorial had been largely funded by the sale of the Drill Hall in the 1980s, the council said.
Culverden community chairperson David Croft said public support for the project had been humbling.
"So many people in the community have volunteered their time and expertise to make the memorial possible," he said.
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