Cathy Tod, who was part of the co-ordination team that assembled material, said her grandfather owned a farm above Seacliff hospital, and her uncles and aunts and grandparents had a lot to do with Seacliff and its hospital.
"It’s really part of my DNA to be mindful of Seacliff’s history, respect its reputation and challenge some of the myths that surround mental health and the old institutions," Ms Tod, a retired psychiatric nurse, said.
"The collective energy of half a dozen people has resulted in an awful lot of work to put this together," Ms Tod said.
When the hospital was constructed in the late 19th century it was the largest building in New Zealand.
Its saddest chapter was in 1942, when a fire killed 37 women as it swept through a locked ward.
Institutions such as Seacliff were often unfairly regarded as harsh, cruel places, when treatment was sometimes effective for the times, Ms Tod said.
Her friend Marilyn Bartlett, who had a leadership role in the history project, recalled demolition of the main building in 1960.
She was at primary school then and remembered the wrecking ball.
"I could hear it crashing."
Her grandparents moved to the village in 1908 and her mother was required to work at the hospital in 1946, she said.
Her parents provided milk for the village.
The hospital and the village were well integrated, she said.
Mrs Bartlett also became a psychiatric nurse and did some work at Seacliff before the site’s closure.
The idea for a Seacliff history hall came out of a staff reunion in 2012.
Mrs Bartlett described the material as rich and important.
One person at the gathering yesterday worked at the hospital as early as 1954.
Former nurse Allison West (90) said people were well looked after there and she enjoyed the camaraderie among staff.
