A decision to spend about $750,000 on the Omarama Memorial Hall to redevelop it as a community centre has paid a dividend in its first year of operation.
To encourage its use fees have been kept as low as possible, and a small surplus, over and above its daily running costs, is being reinvested in the centre.
''Justification for our new community centre has been well and truly demonstrated over the last year, with a groundswell of support shown from a wide range of the community,'' Omarama Incorporated chairman Craig Dawson said in his annual report.
After a public meeting in 2009 discussed ways of ensuring more use was made of the hall, fund-raising was started to pay for the redevelopment.
Work began in April last year, and the community centre officially opened on October 25, 2013.
The upgrade included a 50sq m extension, a full commercial kitchen, provision for a medical centre, a gymnasium, and a Plunket meeting room.
The hall has broadband internet and a library space and can be a headquarters in civil defence emergencies.
The centre's accountants had yet to disclose the exact size of the surplus but it meant the centre could be operated without input from ratepayers.
The community centre rate is being used to pay off a $25,000 loan for extra work over the original cost.
Mr Dawson, in his report, listed all the activities in the centre since it reopened, including six major fundraising events - two for the Omarama School which raised $11,000.
Regular use of the hall was made by community groups, including Playgroup, Plunket, Ahuriri Community Board, Federated Farmers, line dancing classes, a craft group, yoga classes and even a cheese-makers' group.
''All the activities and events that have happened ... will help us focus on the coming years, which will show the full potential of our new centre and the huge role it can play in developing Omarama's community,'' he said.
