Roy Stokes Hall

New Brighton’s Roy Stokes Hall has a new lease of life and a secure future after ChristchurchNZ listened and responded to the needs of the local New Brighton community.

CNZ recognised how special the hall was to the community three years ago, following the sale of the neighbouring Central New Brighton School and plans to create a new housing development to encourage more people to live close to the mall. Concerned that they might lose the hall, the community rallied to show how much it meant to them.

Time was ticking for the hall which suffered considerable damage in the 2010/11 earthquakes and required $230,000 for earthquake strengthening. CNZ decided to find a way to save the hall and in doing so paved the way for a new chapter in its proud history under community ownership.

Today the hall is a bustling hub, just as the community leaders headed by Roy Stokes (1911-1978), envisaged when they built it in 1977. Its opening at the time followed a huge community fundraising effort when a group including the Central New Brighton school committee, raised two thirds of the build cost of $150,000. Since then, it has been at the heart of the New Brighton community – a venue for countless local events including concerts, school assemblies and productions, dances and parties as well as serving as a welfare centre after the earthquakes. The partnership with the school was perfect, with the school using it during school hours and the community at all other times.

After the Ministry of Education closed the school in 2015, both its buildings and the hall became an arts and culture hub where artists could lease the rooms for their studios.

CNZ General Manager Urban Development Cath Carter says the intention was always to use the former school site for housing to bring more people and activity to the commercial heart of the suburb.

The New Brighton Regeneration Project

“The New Brighton Regeneration Project started after the earthquakes with the aim of bringing life to the suburb. Publicly funded attractions on the foreshore, the playground and He Puna Taimoana hot pools, helped kick-start the area’s revitalisation. Support for local businesses and two neighbouring housing developments were the next steps.

“You can now see real momentum in the suburb, with the private sector starting to get more involved and new retail and hospitality offerings about to open. It was clear to us from the beginning, however, that the community wanted to retain Roy Stokes Hall so we did worked out a way to make that happen.”

Once the hall’s future was secured for the community, the next issue was who would run the facility. In early 2023 CNZ called for parties interested acting as the future steward of the hall and in doing so build on its growing popularity for arts and culture events and activities. The New Brighton-based Youth Alive Trust (YAT), based at Grace Vineyards Beach Campus, put its hand up and was selected as custodian of the hall on behalf of the community.

Trust General Manager James Ridpath attributes its selection to its strong track record in delivering community events in New Brighton over the past 35 years. The Trust knew the hall well having run some of its clubs and children’s programmes there.

YAT started in its new role at the end of last year and continues to support and look after the groups that use the hall, including a circus school and the arts programme, as well as dance groups and fitness classes. “We are not planning any changes to its current use and will ensure it remains available to community organisations. We are not hosting parties and weddings any more so we can focus on regular community group users,” he says.

The hall is busy and returning to its former glory. The Christchurch Earthquake Appeal Trust funded repairs to the hall over a number of years, including replacing the floor, and now the trust is looking at an ongoing programme of repairs, maintenance and upgrades.

“The Roy Stokes Hall really is such an important part of this community and will continue to be a popular venue at the heart of New Brighton’s regeneration which definitely is continuing to gain momentum,” Ridpath says.