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Murray Boon describes conversion from Killinchy School to Killinchy Hall
Description
TitleConversion from Killinchy School to Killinchy Hall
DescriptionI would like to go through a little bit of how we came to have this hall as it is today.
The school actually closed in 1959.
I wasn’t going to school at the time but they closed it down and I remember quite distinctly that the Education Board, about a year before, had built a beautiful toilet block at the end of the school building.
Before that we had long drops - the boys in one corner and the girls in another corner.
It wasn’t long after the school closed; they came and picked the whole toilet block up and took it all away – it was a damn shame, it wasn’t there when we took over.
The community actually got the opportunity to lease the area until the Education Board made up its mind what it was going to do.
In 1964, the Council agreed to take over the running of the grounds and the school; this was invested in the community.
The building had been standing empty for so long that it was getting into bad repair.
The sou’west wall – the weather was getting into it and when we got permission to carry on and decided to make this into a hall; we had big working bees for many, many, many months.
With the building we had to have a registered builder; we got Jack Bowden from Brookside; he came and supervised the building and we drew up a roster; so many men each day to come and help him; it worked very well and we got the job done.
We had many meetings to decide how we were going to make the best use of the building with all sorts of plans drawn up and ideas thrown around. But we came up with how it is today.
When I was at the school, it was a two-room school and you used to all come in at the south end porch and door, then along the corridor and hang your bag or coat on the hook.
So the corridor wall and the wall dividing the classrooms were taken out.
The wall had to be replaced with the beam - actually it’s got a wee bit of a sag in it but hasn’t got any worse, thank goodness, and the earthquake didn’t do any damage to it.
Yes, it was vested in the Council, but the community had to sign an agreement that we would look after it - the grounds and the buildings and keep it in tip-top order.
We got a certificate to say we were doing that properly and we got the certificate to say we were all okay.
But to start to do the alterations, we thought, now you know we haven’t got many funds in the kitty so we decided that we’d have to have a house-to-house collection.
In those days it wasn’t big money but we got £510 by going from house to house, from 43 houses, I think it was.
In 1965 we had the first committee meeting in this hall.
I’d like to mention here the Killinchy Women’s Institute; they did a great job; choosing the colours and the drapes; they did a lot of the painting, and they made the first lot of drapes.
We were very grateful at the time for all their help.
As you can see from the photo that Allan Chapman took, the school needed a coat of paint - desperately.
Originally there was a fire in each classroom and you can see in the photo that there is only one chimney.
We took one down, but because it was built so strongly and lined all the way up, we struggled. It was a damp day, the roof was slippery and we were glad Health & Safety did not visit us.
Of course, being a dual committee we ran the old hall as well, which was behind the oak trees north of the school and that was run as a separate entity and the land comes under a separate title.
The rifle club finished up with it in the end; looking after it. It was left to them in 1966.
That hall was deemed to have the best dance floor in the district – it was a beautiful floor; of course, as the years went on, the building got beyond the Rifle Club and the community looking after it; so it was decided it had to go and the Rifle Club folded and that was that.
But I must say - my son has a window frame out of that old building.
I never knew what he thought he was going to do with it but I think he’s still got it; it was one of those beautiful windows - oval shaped at the top; four little panes of glass; beautiful frame; there wasn’t many of those panes of glass left in it when he got it but he’s got it tucked away somewhere for old times’ sake, I suppose.
Of course when we were struggling for finance and one thing and another to keep us going; the Council came along with their ideas to take over the financing part of it; look after our money and we had to put a rate on all householders.
So we started off at $10.00; $10.00 was the minimum rate; so we thought we were made then; we really had some money that we could spend and that kept us going ‘til we see today.
Then in 1980 we became the Killinchy Community Centre; before that we were just the Hall Committee.
Then in 1995, that’s when we came into negotiations with the Tennis Club wanting to come and join us and build their tennis courts in the school grounds and from then on as you can see things have moved on quite rapidly.
The old hall was pulled down in 1990 and cleared and all grassed and made it like it is today – it’s a credit to the ones that keep it tidy now; it used to grow a fair bit of grass and rubbish but it’s very good now.
And of course the Tennis Club came down here in 1995 and as you can see they have done a lot of work since then together with the community. They’ve opened up the side facing the tennis courts with French doors.
I am very proud of the community who have carried on and kept it as it is today.
(Editor’s note: Murray was Chairman from 1966-1988 (32 years) and Sam Boal was Secretary from 1969-1994 (25 years). Both these men, and many other people, have demonstrated the tremendous amount of community spirit that existed in the Ellesmere District.)
Adapted from a talk given by Murray Boon.
Ellesmere Historical Society
Date11 & 25 November 2021SourceThe Ellesmere EchoLocationKillinchy
DescriptionI would like to go through a little bit of how we came to have this hall as it is today. The school actually closed in 1959.
I wasn’t going to school at the time but they closed it down and I remember quite distinctly that the Education Board, about a year before, had built a beautiful toilet block at the end of the school building.
Before that we had long drops - the boys in one corner and the girls in another corner.
It wasn’t long after the school closed; they came and picked the whole toilet block up and took it all away – it was a damn shame, it wasn’t there when we took over.
The community actually got the opportunity to lease the area until the Education Board made up its mind what it was going to do.
In 1964, the Council agreed to take over the running of the grounds and the school; this was invested in the community.
The building had been standing empty for so long that it was getting into bad repair.
The sou’west wall – the weather was getting into it and when we got permission to carry on and decided to make this into a hall; we had big working bees for many, many, many months.
With the building we had to have a registered builder; we got Jack Bowden from Brookside; he came and supervised the building and we drew up a roster; so many men each day to come and help him; it worked very well and we got the job done.
We had many meetings to decide how we were going to make the best use of the building with all sorts of plans drawn up and ideas thrown around. But we came up with how it is today.
When I was at the school, it was a two-room school and you used to all come in at the south end porch and door, then along the corridor and hang your bag or coat on the hook.
So the corridor wall and the wall dividing the classrooms were taken out.
The wall had to be replaced with the beam - actually it’s got a wee bit of a sag in it but hasn’t got any worse, thank goodness, and the earthquake didn’t do any damage to it.
Yes, it was vested in the Council, but the community had to sign an agreement that we would look after it - the grounds and the buildings and keep it in tip-top order.
We got a certificate to say we were doing that properly and we got the certificate to say we were all okay.
But to start to do the alterations, we thought, now you know we haven’t got many funds in the kitty so we decided that we’d have to have a house-to-house collection.
In those days it wasn’t big money but we got £510 by going from house to house, from 43 houses, I think it was.
In 1965 we had the first committee meeting in this hall.
I’d like to mention here the Killinchy Women’s Institute; they did a great job; choosing the colours and the drapes; they did a lot of the painting, and they made the first lot of drapes.
We were very grateful at the time for all their help.
As you can see from the photo that Allan Chapman took, the school needed a coat of paint - desperately.
Originally there was a fire in each classroom and you can see in the photo that there is only one chimney.
We took one down, but because it was built so strongly and lined all the way up, we struggled. It was a damp day, the roof was slippery and we were glad Health & Safety did not visit us.
Of course, being a dual committee we ran the old hall as well, which was behind the oak trees north of the school and that was run as a separate entity and the land comes under a separate title.
The rifle club finished up with it in the end; looking after it. It was left to them in 1966.
That hall was deemed to have the best dance floor in the district – it was a beautiful floor; of course, as the years went on, the building got beyond the Rifle Club and the community looking after it; so it was decided it had to go and the Rifle Club folded and that was that.
But I must say - my son has a window frame out of that old building.
I never knew what he thought he was going to do with it but I think he’s still got it; it was one of those beautiful windows - oval shaped at the top; four little panes of glass; beautiful frame; there wasn’t many of those panes of glass left in it when he got it but he’s got it tucked away somewhere for old times’ sake, I suppose.
Of course when we were struggling for finance and one thing and another to keep us going; the Council came along with their ideas to take over the financing part of it; look after our money and we had to put a rate on all householders.
So we started off at $10.00; $10.00 was the minimum rate; so we thought we were made then; we really had some money that we could spend and that kept us going ‘til we see today.
Then in 1980 we became the Killinchy Community Centre; before that we were just the Hall Committee.
Then in 1995, that’s when we came into negotiations with the Tennis Club wanting to come and join us and build their tennis courts in the school grounds and from then on as you can see things have moved on quite rapidly.
The old hall was pulled down in 1990 and cleared and all grassed and made it like it is today – it’s a credit to the ones that keep it tidy now; it used to grow a fair bit of grass and rubbish but it’s very good now.
And of course the Tennis Club came down here in 1995 and as you can see they have done a lot of work since then together with the community. They’ve opened up the side facing the tennis courts with French doors.
I am very proud of the community who have carried on and kept it as it is today.
(Editor’s note: Murray was Chairman from 1966-1988 (32 years) and Sam Boal was Secretary from 1969-1994 (25 years). Both these men, and many other people, have demonstrated the tremendous amount of community spirit that existed in the Ellesmere District.)
Adapted from a talk given by Murray Boon.
Ellesmere Historical Society
Date11 & 25 November 2021SourceThe Ellesmere EchoLocationKillinchyClick on the image to add
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Murray Boon describes conversion from Killinchy School to Killinchy Hall (11 & 25 November 2021). Selwyn Stories, accessed 29/05/2026, https://selwynstories.selwynlibraries.co.nz/nodes/view/5348